THE   DEVELOPMENT 


OF 


STANDARD  ENGLISH  SPEECH 

IN   OUTLINE 


BY 

J.   M.   HART 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 

1907 


COPYRIGHT,  1907, 

BY 
HENKY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


PREFACE. 

This  little  book  is  the  outcome  of  lectures  which 
have  been  delivered  for  some  years  past  to  our 
students  of  Middle  English.  In  preparing  the 
manuscript  for  publication  and  in  reading  proof  I 
have  got  much  help  of  every  sort  from  Assistant 
Professor  C.  S.  Northup  and  Dr.  B.  S.  Monroe. 
As  a  whole,  then,  the  book  may  be  said  to  represent 
Cornell  aim  and  method. 

The  book  presupposes  :  (1).  Students  who  have 
some  knowledge  of  Old  English,  although  this 
knowledge  need  not  be  extensive  nor  profound. 
Cook's  First  Book  in  Old  English,  or  Bright' s 
Anglo-Saxon  Reader  (the  general  features  of  the 
grammar,  with  the  reading  of  a  few  of  the  simpler 
prose  texts),  will  be  quite  enough.  (2).  A 
thoroughly  trained  teacher,  one  conversant  with 
Old  and  Middle  English  prose  and  verse,  and 
equally  conversant  with  grammatical  and  phonologi- 
cal investigation. 

Further,  this  book  is  not  a  history  of  the  lan- 
guage, not  even  in  the  barest  outline,  but  merely  an 

iii 


2207298 


iy  PKEFACE. 

attempt  to  show  how  the  Englishman  or  American 
of  to-day  has  come  by  his  pronunciation.  Only 
where  there  was  need  of  explaining  apparent  incon- 
sistencies of  pronunciation  have  I  touched  upon 
grammatical  forms.  And  in  handling  the  extremely 
difficult  problem  of  Palatalization,  §§  19,  20,  I 
have  felt  constrained  to  go  even  beyond  the  limits 
of  Old  English  grammar  and  introduce  theories 
which  belong  in  strictness  to  comparative  grammar. 
Here  the  teacher's  guidance  is  indispensable.  On 
my  part  I  have  given,  I  trust,  theory  enough  and 
data  enough  for  fairly  logical  deduction. 

For  the  most  profitable  use  of  this  book  I  would 
recommend  two  other  works.  The  one  is  Skeat's 
Concise  Etymological  Dictionary  of  the  English 
Language  (ed.  of  1901),  an  inexpensive  and  most 
convenient  book  for  ready  reference.  It  is  not 
wholly  free  from  errors,  the  author  does  not  always 
exhibit  the  courage  of  his  best  knowledge.  Never- 
theless the  book  is  a  model  of  concise  scholarship. 
The  other  work  is  O.  F.  Emerson's  Middle  English 
Reader,  which  offers  the  best  collection  of  texts, 
the  fullest  annotation,  and  the  fullest  glossary.  Of 
Professor  Emerson's  Grammatical  Introduction  my 
praise  must  be  slightly  qualified.  With  the  purely 
grammatical  part  (declension,  conjugation,  &c. )  I 


PEEFACE.  V 

have  no  fault  to  find  ;  but  the  author's  treatment 
of  the  phonology  is  open  to  two  criticisms.  In  the  first 
place  he  tries  to  explain  many  phenomena  which 
the  beginner  can  afford  to  ignore  ;  in  treating  such 
an  amorphous  speech  as  Middle  English,  certainly 
amorphous  until  the  coming  of  Chaucer,  one  should 
concentrate  one's  energies  upon  the  most  general 
phenomena  and  leave  the  rest  to  time.  In  the 
second  place,  Professor  Emerson  starts  with  Middle 
English  sounds  and  harks  back  to  Old  English. 
This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  both  awkward  and  unnatural. 
Surely  no  student  in  1906  will  begin  his  study  of 
the  language  with  Middle  English,  a  procedure 
barely  pardonable  in  the  autodidacts  of  1806. 

Towards  Kluge  and  other  German  scholars  my 
attitude  has  been  in  places  decidedly  conservative, 
not  to  say  rebellious.  Although  my  obligations  to 
Kluge' s  Geschichte  der  englischen  Sprache  are  self- 
confessed  on  almost  every  page  of  this  book,  I  must 
protest  against  his  use  of  certain  terms  involving 
serious  misconceptions.  I  mean  the  terms  Ruckkehr 
and  Ruckumlaut.  They  invite  one  to  believe  that 
k  once  palatalized  to  ch  "goes  back"  to  k,  that  u 
once  umlauted  to  y  "goes  back"  to  u.  Nothing 
of  the  sort  ever  happened  or  ever  could  have 
happened  !  Next,  in  nearly  all  phonological  dis- 


vi  PKEFACE. 

cussions  there  is  too  much  Ormulum  ;  the  work  of 
Brother  Orm  is  viewed  as  if  it  were  the  norm 
of  twelfth-century  speech.  This  is  to  overlook  the 
patent  fact  that  it  represented  only  one  small  dis- 
trict. Lastly,  I  am  more  than  puzzled  by  the  air 
of  confidence  with  which  the  German  school  blocks 
out  mediaeval  England  in  squares  like  a  checker- 
board and  assigns  each  bit  of  writing,  from  Laya- 
mon's  Brut  to  the  "Alliterative  Poems,"  to  its. 
particular  little  square.  I  must  confess  to  being 
deplorably  deficient  in  this  sense  of  the  fourth 
dimension. 

A  word  or  two  upon  some  peculiar  signs  and 
abbreviations  used  in  these  pages. 

*  denotes  an  assumed  form.  Either  a  form  which 
may  well  have  existed  in  the  historical  language, 
but  which  has  accidentally  not  been  preserved ; 
e.  g.,  *drop,  *dropp,  §  12.  Or  a  purely  conjectural 
form  which  philological  theory  postulates  for  pre- 
historic times  in  explanation  of  historical  forms  ; 
e.  g.,  *layion,  *layip,  &c.,  p.  73. 

[]  denotes  phonetic  spelling,  the  vowels  having 
the  so- called  Continental  value. 

i  is  both  phonetic  and  grammatical ;  it  represents 
a  genuine  semi- vowel  which  may  function  either  as 
a  pure  vowel  i  or  as  a  pure  consonant  y. 


PREFACE.  vii 

6  represents  the  peculiar  English  diphthongal 
sound  in  law,  saw,  call,  taught. 

9  is  used,  somewhat  loosely,  to  indicate  any  indis- 
tinct vowel  sound  outside  of  the  regular  scale : 
o-e-i-o-w,  o-^u.  In  a  strictly  phonetic  treatise  I 
should  have  used  more  than  one  character  ;  for  the 
present  book  the  9  seemed  enough. 

6  represents  a  k  in  the  first  stage  of  palatalization  ; 
the  complete  palatalization  of  k  is  represented  by 
ch  or  [£[].  The  corresponding  voiced  palatal,  the 
j  of  joke,  the  g  of  giant,  is  here  represented  by 
[dIJ] ;  the  usual  sign  might  be  confounded  with  an 
O.  E.  d*. 

G.  T.  (General  Teutonic)  is  a  safer  abbreviation 
than  Germ.  (Germanic),  which  might  be  mistaken 
for  German,  the  language  of  Germany  proper. 
General  Teutonic  is  that  purely  hypothetical  form 
of  speech  which  lies  back  of  English,  German, 
Scandinavian,  Gothic. 

Sievers  refers  to  An  Old  English  Grammar,  by 
Eduard  Sievers.  Translated  and  Edited  by  Albert 
8.  Cook.  Third  edition. 

J.  M.  HART. 

CORNELL  UNIVERSITY, 

November  20th,  1906. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  REMARKS. 

PAGE 

§    1.   INTRODUCTION.     English;  Danish;  French,    .     .       1 
§    2.   NOMENCLATURE.     Old,  Middle,   Modern ; 
Northern,      Midland, 
Southern ;    Standard,    .     .       3 

CHAPTER  II. 

VOWEL  CHANGES. 
1.  VOWEL-LENGTHENING. 

§    3.   BEFORE  CONSONANT  GROUPS:  -Id,  -nd,  -mb,  .     .      6 
§    4.   IN  OPEN  STRESSED  SYLLABLES, 11 

2.  VOWKL-SHOBTENING. 

§   5.   EARLY  SHORTENING, 13 

§    6.   LATER  SHORTENING,      ....  _»_^i^. «    .    .    18 

§   7.  CERTAIN  TERMINATIONS, 20 

3.  CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY. 

§    8.  LEVELLING,       22 

§    9.   THE  VOWEL  e, 25 

§  10.  THE  VOWEL  a, 28 

ix 


x  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

§  11.  OPEN-SYLLABLE  LENGTHENING  OF  O.  E.  a,    .    29 

§  12.   O.  E.  o  (close) , 31 

§13.   O.  E.  i,  i;  u,  u, 33 

4.    DlPHTHONGIZATION. 

§  14.    DiPHTHONGING  OF  1,   U, 34 

§  15.     DlPHTHOBTGING  BEFORE  ff ;  h ;    W,       .      .      .      .      37 

§  16.   DIPHTHONGING  BEFORE  I  and  r, 44 

CHRONOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  VOWEL  CHANGES. 
§  17.   SURVEY  OF  §§  3-16 ;  CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE,    .    46 

CHAPTEK  III. 

CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

1.  Loss  AND  INTRUSION  ;   VOICING,  Ac. 
§  18.    hi-,  hr-,  hw-;  en-,  gn-;  -s;  ch-j,  &c., 49 

2.   PALATALIZATION. 

§  19.   PALATALIZATION  OF  Jc, 56 

§  20.  PALATALIZATION  OF  gr, 68 


THE  DEVELOPMENT 

OF 

STANDARD  ENGLISH  SPEECH 


CHAPTER  I. 
GENERAL   REMARKS. 

§  1.  Introduction. — The  history  of  the  growth 
of  modern  English  pronunciation  is  complicated. 
Certain  features  are  puzzling  ;  some  are  obscure  and 
— even  in  the  best  light  of  our  present  knowledge — 
appear  arbitrary.  The  chief  features,  however,  admit 
of  systematic  explanation  and  can  be  mastered  by  all 
who  will  take  the  pains. 

By  way  of  comparison,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
development  of  modern  English  pronunciation  is 
more  difficult  to  account  for  than  the  pronunciation 
of  any  other  modern  Teutonic  speech,  e.  g. ,  German, 
Dutch,  Danish,  Swedish.  This  difficulty  may  be 
explained  in  part  as  the  result  of  foreign  influences. 

For  a  century  and  a  half  before  the  Norman  inva- 
sion, say  from  880  to  1030,  England  was  raided  and 
in  many  places  even  occupied  by  Scandinavian  in- 
vaders, usually  called  Danes,  though  probably  the 
Norwegians  were  more  numerous  than  the  Danes 
proper.  The  distinction  is  of  no  value  in  this  place, 
for  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  the  difference 

1 


2  GENERAL  REMARKS. 

between  Danish  and  Norwegian  speech  must  have 
been  almost  imperceptible.  At  any  rate,  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  certain  parts  of  England,  chiefly 
along  the  east  coast  between  the  Wash  and  the  Tyne 
and  running  back  at  least  half  way  to  the  west  coast, 
were  officially  designated  the  Danelagh,  or  land  of 
the  Dane  Law. 

"With  the  conquest  of  the  whole  of  England  by 
William  of  Normandy  and  his  immediate  successors, 
English  speech  was  again  subjected  to  a  foreign  in- 
fluence, namely,  French.  This  French  influence  was 
of  much  longer  duration,  was  more  extensive,  inas- 
much as  it  affected  the  whole  island,  and  also  more 
intensive.  French  influence  affected  not  merely  Eng- 
lish speech  but  English  ways  of  living  and  thinking. 

Still,  after  making  ample  allowance  for  Danish 
and  French  influences,  many  if  not  most  of  the 
changes  in  English  speech  since  950  can  be  regarded 
only  as  the  result  of  innate  causes.  Evidently  the 
language  had  certain  tendencies  of  its  own  in  certain 
directions,  quite  irrespective  of  Danes  and  Normans. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
one  feature  of  modern  English  pronunciation,  the 
diphthonging  of  [I]  to  [at],  of  [u]  to  [aw],  is  par- 
alleled in  Mod.  High  German.  We  pronounce  in 
English,  just  as  in  German,  mine  and  house,  mein 


NOMENCLATURE.  3 

and  halts.  This  diphthongization,  however,  though 
parallel  in  the  two  languages,  was  wholly  indepen- 
dent. In  Germany  it  began  in  the  twelfth  century 
and  was  completed  in  the  fifteenth.  In  England  it 
began  in  the  fifteenth  century  but  was  chiefly  an 
affair  of  the  sixteenth.  In  Scandinavian  speech 
there  has  been  no  diphthongization  ;  the  old  pronun- 
ciation mm  and  hus  still  survives. 

§  2.  Nomenclature. — In  its  chronology  the  .an- 
guage  is  divided  into  three  periods  :  Old  (O.  E. ), 
Middle  (M.  E.),  and  Modern  (Mn.  E.),  or— as 
some  prefer — New  (N.  E.). 

By  O.  E.  is  meant  the  language  from  the  earliest 
recorded  monuments  (fragments  and  glosses,  some  of 
the  seventh  century)  down  to  the  year  1100  or  per- 
haps somewhat  later,  say  1120. 

By  M.  E.  is  meant  the  language  between  1100  (or 
1120)  and  1500  (approximately). 

By  Mn.  E.,  the  language  since  1500. 

In  its  topographical  distribution  the  language  is 
described  as  Southern,  Midland,  and  Northern. 

The  Southern  division  comprises  those  forms  spoken 
south  of  the  Thames  and  in  a  few  counties  to  the 
north  and  west  of  the  Thames,  namely,  Gloucester- 
shire and  parts  of  Herefordshire  and  Worcestershire. 


4  GENERAL  EEMAEKS. 

Midland  English  comprises  those  forms  spoken 
between  the  Thames  and  a  line  drawn  somewhat 
irregularly  between  the  Wash  and  the  Humber  and 
running  N.  "W.  to  the  west  coast  above  Liverpool. 

Northern  English  comprises  those  forms  spoken  in 
the  Lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  in  Northumberland, 
Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  Yorkshire,  Durham, 
and  the  northern  parts  of  Lincoln,  Nottingham,  and 
Lancashire. 

These  two  classifications,  the  chronological  and 
the  topographical,  overlap  each  other  in  every  stage 
of  the  language  ;  that  is  to  say,  O.  E.  had  its  North- 
ern form  (called  Old  Northumbrian),  its  Midland 
(called  Mercian),  and  its  Southern  (called  West- 
Saxon,  of  which  Kentish  was  a  variety).  M.  E.  had 
its  Northern,  Midland,  and  Southern  forms.  And 
Mn.  E.  also  exhibits  the  same  general  varieties. 

Concerning  Mn.  E. ,  however,  there  is  this  addi- 
tional phenomenon  to  be  noted,  namely,  the  existence 
of  the  so-called  standard  or  literary  speech,  which  is 
used  in  varying  degrees  of  purity  by  the  cultivated 
classes  throughout  Great  Britain  and  forms  the  basis 
of  American  speech. 

This  standard  or  literary  English  was  in  its  origin 
Midland,  One  variety  of  Midland  speech  was  trans- 
ferred in  the  fourteenth  century  to  the  court  and  to 


NOMENCLATURE.  5 

the  administrative,  legal,  cultivated,  and  fashionable 
circles  of  London.  Here  it  was  further  developed 
and  permanently  established  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
From  London  as  a  centre  this  standard  and  conven- 
tional speech  has  spread  as  above  indicated.  It  is 
not,  however,  the  speech  of  the  lower  and  uneducated 
classes  of  the  city  of  London  ;  their  speech,  called 
Cockney  English,  is  a  variety  of  the  Southern  dialect. 


CHAPTER  II. 
VOWEL  CHANGES. 

These  are  of  three  general  kinds  :  1.  Vowel- 
lengthening.  2.  Vowel-shortening.  3.  Change  in 
the  quality  of  the  sound. 

1.  VOWEL-LENGTHENING. 

§  3.  Before  Consonant  Groups. — An  originally 
short  vowel  in  a  stressed  syllable  (stem  syllable)  was 
lengthened  before  certain  consonant  groups.  This 
lengthening  took  place  in  late  O.  E. 

1.    A  short  vowel  was  lengthened  before  -Id. 

Exceptions:  u  and  its  umlauted  sound  y  (some- 
times written  i  in  O.  E.  and  u,  ui  in  M.  E. )  were  not 
lengthened.  Thus,  O.  E.  byldan,  M.  E.  bulden, 
Mn.  E.  build,  is  still  short. 

Caution.  The  -Id  must  be  a  genuine  old  group  ; 
for  instance,  feld,  feld  (Mn.  E.  field,  §  9).  The 
vowel  was  not  lengthened  when  the  I  and  the  d 
were  originally  in  separate  syllables  in  O.  E.  and 
subsequently  brought  together  through  syncope  of  an 
intermediate  vowel. 
6 


VOWEI^LENGTHENLNG.  7 

Thus,  contrast  O.  E.  cald,  cdld  (genuine  old 
group),  M.  E.  CQld,  Mn.  E.  cold  (§  10)  with  late 
O.  E.  called,  calld,  pret.  of  W.  S.  ceallian,  from 
Danish  kalla  (§16.  1). 

Further  caution.  It  is  all-important  to  determine 
which  dialect  form  of  the  vowel  was  lengthened. 
Inasmuch  as  most  of  our  O.  E.  texts  are  written  in 
the  Southern  (West-Saxon)  dialect,  the  student  must 
reconstruct  many  words  in  their  Midland-Mercian 
form.  This  means  that  the  peculiar  West-Saxon 
'  broken '  and  umlauted  vowels  must  be  reconstructed 
according  to  the  Mercian  type. 

Illustrations  of  vowel- lengthening.  These  are  given 
both  for  vowels  that  do  not  need  reconstructing  and 
for  vowels  that  do. 

Without  reconstruction. 

feld  (e  in  all  O.  E.  dial. )  feld,  §  9. 

did  (i  in  all  O.  E.  dial.)  did,  §§  14,  19. 

gold,  §  12. 

With  reconstruction. 

eald,  W.  S.  ;  aid,  Merc.  ;  aid,  §  10. 
wieldan,  W.  S.  ;  weldan,  Merc.  ;  weldan,  §  9. 
(Mn.  E.  weld,   '  to  beat  metal  together, '  is 
borrowed  from  Swedish). 


8  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

2.  i,  u,  and  y  (i-umlaut  of  w)  are  lengthened 
before  -nd.     Examples  : 

O.  E.  bindan  blndan  ;  M.  E.  binden  ;  Mn.  E. 
bind,  §14.  hund  hund  ;  M.  E.  hund  ;  Mn.  E. 
hound,  §  14.  gecynd  gecynd  ;  M.  E.  i-cunde  ; 
Mn.  E.  kind,  §  14. 

In  M.  E.  the  O.  E.  u  is  usually  written  ou  but  has 
the  value  of  [u]. 

3.  i  and  a  are  lengthened  before  -mb.  Examples  : 
climban  cllmban  ;    M.  E.   cllmbe  ;   Mn.  E.  climb, 

§§  14,  18.  1.  c.     cam6  cam6  ;  M.  E.  cgrafc  ;  Mn.  E. 
comb,  §§  10,  18.  1.  c. 

In  Mn.  E.  limb,  which  has  a  short  i,  the  final  b  is 
not  found  in  O.  E. ;  it  is  an  accretion  in  late  M.  E. ; 
consequently  there  was  no  -m  b  to  lengthen  the  i. 

Exceptions  to  Vowel- Lengthening. 

The  principle  of  vowel-lengthening  did  not  apply 
in  forms  where  the  root  was  increased  by  a  suffix,  or 
in  forms  where  the  consonant  group  was  immediately 
followed  by  r  or  I.  Thus  : 

O.  E.  tyndre  is  Mn.  E.  tinder  (short  t). 
O.  E.  elder  (Mercian)  is  Mn.  E.  elder  (short  e). 
O.  E.  cildru  (pi.  of  did),  Scotch  childer,  stand- 
ard children. 


VOWEL-LENGTHENING.  9 

Contrast  under,  wonder,  hinder,  with  ivund 
(wound},  be-hlnd. 

The  suffixes  -en  of  the  past  participle  and  -an  of 
the  infinitive,  however,  did  not  prevent  lengthening. 
Thus: 

O.  E.  bindan  blndan ;  M.  E.  bmden  ;  Mn.  E. 
bind  [ai]. 

O.  E.  bunden  bunden  ;  M.  E.  bounden  ;  Mn.  E. 
bound  [au]. 

For  the  infinitive  in  -icm  (2nd  class  weak)  see 
§56. 

The  lengthenings  mentioned  in  1.  2.  3  took  place 
in  O.  E.  They  were  fully  established  by  1000  A.  D. 
Inasmuch  as  many  O.  E.  texts  are  later  than  1000, 
the  student  of  O.  E.  should  accustom  himself  to 
pronounce  blndan,  bunden,  f eld,  gecynde,  did,  etc., 
except  in  very  old  texts  such  as  the  Pastoral  Care, 
Orosius,  the  Parker  Chronicle.  Certainly  the  length- 
enings should  be  introduced  in  reading  the  texts 
of  Aelfric. 

The  lengthenings  are  general ;  they  became  per- 
manent in  all  M.  E.  and,  with  certain  qualitative 
changes — to  be  discussed  hereafter — have  passed  into 
standard  Mn.  E. 

There  were  in  O.  E.  and  M.  E.  other  lengthenings 


10  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

which  did  not  become  generalized  and  consequently 
did  not  pass  into  standard  Mn.  E.  Thus,  from  the 
spelling  in  the  Ormulum  we  know  that  Orm  pro- 
nounced : 

hard  (O.  E.  hord). 

cerd  (O.  E.  ard,  eard,  see  §  3). 

swerd  (0.  E.  sweord*). 

forth  (O.  E. /or«). 

erfte  (O.  E.  eort5e). 

Orm's  bcern  denotes  lengthening  of  O.  E.  barn,  beam  ; 
his  barrn  must  be  the  Danish  barn,  borrowed. 

Orm's  peculiar  spelling  enables  us  to  determine 
usually  the  vowel  quantity  in  the  words  used  by  him. 
For  words  not  used  by  him,  we  have  no  such  clue. 
Further,  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  other  writers  in 
other  dialects  had  the  same  lengthenings.  This  ques- 
tion is  for  the  special  student  of  M.  E. ;  the  student 
who  desires  to  know  merely  the  history  of  standard 
Mn.  E.  need  concern  himself  merely  with  the  general 
lengthenings  discussed  in  1.  2.  3  of  this  section.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  the  other  lengthenings  did  not 
exist  in  Chaucer's  language.  Only  one  or  two  traces 
have  survived  in  standard  Mn.  E.  Thus,  O.  E.  bard, 
beard ;  Mn.  E.  beard  [I~] ,  §  9. 

Occasionally  a  dialect  form  in  Mn.  E.  illustrates 


VOWEL-LENGTHENING.  11 

the  difference  between  dialect  and  standard  in  his- 
torical evolution.  Thus,  O.  E.  wald  '  forest '  was 
wald  in  Mercian  ;  in  Southern  (Kentish)  it  was 
weald.  The  form  wald  wald  has  given  rise  to  wold, 
see  §  10,  a  word  still  used  in  poetry.  Whereas  the 

* 

form  weald  became  weld,  see  §  9  ;  this  word  sur- 
vives in  the  '  "Weald '  [wild]  of  Kent. 

§  4.  Lengthening  in  Open  Stressed  Sylla- 
bles.— A  short  O.E.  a,  e,  o  in  an  open  stressed 
syllable  was  lengthened.1  This  lengthening  took 
place  much  later  than  the  one  discussed  in  §  3.  It 
began  in  the  13th  century  and  consequently  is 
characteristic  of  the  M.E.  period.  For  example  : 


O.E. 
O.E. 
O.E. 
O.E. 

macian 
mete  'food' 
stelan 
hopian 

M.E. 
M.E. 
M.E. 
M.E. 

maken 
mgte 
stolen 
hqpen 

Mn.E. 
Mn.E. 
Mn.E. 
Mn.E. 

make 
meat 
steal 
hope 

Even  such  O.E.  monosyllables  as  he,  me  have 
been  lengthened  to  he,  me,  now  spoken  [/u,  ml] ,  §  9. 

Orm's  spelling  (the  Ormulum  is  of  about  the  year 
1200)  indicates  that  he  still  pronounced  the  vowels 
short.  Thus  he  writes  (v  for  short,  '  for  long)  : 

1  An  open  syllable  is  one  which  ends  in  a  vowel.  Where  a 
single  consonant  occurs  between  two  vowels,  it  goes  with  the 
second  vowel.  Thus  nia-cian}  me-te. 


12  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

t&kenn  '  to  take '  ;  h%te  '  hatred '  ;  but 
tdkenn,  O.E.  tacen  'token' 

Unfortunately  Orm,  though  persistent  in  his  use 
of  the  double  consonant  to  mark  vowel-shortness, 
is  anything  but  persistent  in  his  use  of  the  signs 
w  and '  ;  he  uses  them  only  occasionally. 

For  other  texts  the  student' s  chief  reliance  is  upon 
the  rimes.  Whenever  in  poetry  we  discover  that  the 
rime-couplet  is  composed  of  syllables  one  of  which 
had  in  O.  E.  a  long  vowel  and  the  other  a  short,  we 
are  safe  in  inferring  that  the  poem  was  composed 
after  lengthening  had  taken  place,  i.  e.,  after  1250. 
Thus,  Qre  (O.E.  are  'mercy')  rimes  with  -lore 
(O.  E.  -lore  '  lost ') ;  see  §  10. 

In  general  the  question  of  open-syllable  lengthen- 
ing in  M.  E.  presents  more  difficulties  than  the  O.  E. 
lengthening  before  consonant  groups.  One  striking 
difficulty  is  to  account  for  the  subsequent  change 
which  took  place  in  the  quality  of  the  lengthened 
vowel.  See  §11. 

Not  infrequently  we  find  in  M.  E.  a  lengthening 
due  to  the  dropping  of  a  single  consonant  followed 
by  vowel  crasis  ;  and  occasionally  such  a  lengthening 
survives  in  Mn.  E.  Thus,  O.  E.  maced,  M.  E. 
malced,  maad,  Mn.  E.  made  ;  O.  E.  taken,  Mn.  E. 
la' en,  pp. 


VOWEL-SHORTENING.  13 

Lengthening  in  open  syllables,  as  a  process  of  the 
late  thirteenth  century,  necessarily  affected  Danish 
loan-words ;  for  these  were  all  introduced  before 
1200.  Thus  :  Danish  taka  ;  O.  E.  tacan  ;  M.  E. 
taken  ;  Mn.  E.  take. 

Some  exceptions  are  difficult  to  explain.  Thus, 
O.  E.  hZofon  is  still  short  in  Mn.  E.  Perhaps  this  is 
due  to  the  heavy  suffix  -on.  The  O.  E.  deofol  is 
d&vil  (short  e)  in  Mn.  E.  Orm  writes  heojfness, 
heffness  (short  e)  but  deofless,  defless  (long  e").  See 
§  7.  M.  E.  roten,  Mn.  E.  rotten  (from  Scand. 
rotinri)  has  remained  short  ;  whereas,  O.  E.  brocen, 
M.  E.  and  Mn.  E.  broken,  has  been  lengthened. 

2.  VOWEL-SHORTENING. 

Under  this  heading  are  treated  two  processes  sim- 
ilar in  method  and  result  but  distinct  in  time.  The 
second  process  is  in  the  main  probably  a  century  or 
two  later  than  the  first. 

§  5.  Early  Shortening. — This  took  place  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  i.  e.,  in  the  border 
period  between  O.  E.  and  M.  E.  Since  the  Danish 
loan-words  were  introduced  mainly  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  they  have  been  affected  like  the 
native  words. 


14  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

The  process  is  best  understood  when  the  words 
affected  are  arranged  in  the  following  groups. 

a.  Compound  words. — A   long   vowel  is   usually 
shortened  when  in  the   composition  two  consonants 
are  brought  together.      For  example  : 

O.  E.  wisdom  Mn.  E.  wisdom. 

Danish  husbonde  Mn.  E.  husband. 

O.  E.  gosling  Mn.  E.  gosling. 

O.  E.  crlstendom  Mn.  E.  [&mnefom.] 

O.  E.  clcenllc  Mn.  E.  cleanly. 

O.  E.  Eddmund  Mn.  E.  Edmund. 

O.  E.  hldfmcesse  Mn.  E.  Lammas. 

O.  E.  Stratford  Mn.  E.  Stratford. 

The  Ormulum  is  not  always  in  accord  with 
standard  speech.  Thus,  although  Orm  writes  wiss- 
dom  (short  i),  laffdi^,  'lady'  (short  a,  O.  E.  hlcef- 
dtje),  he  retains  long  a  in  larspell. 

b.  Words  ending  in  a  suffix  or  other  termination 
prominent  enough  to  bear  a  secondary  stress  in  O.  E. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  such  suffixes 
and  terminations  not  only  shortened  an  originally 
long  vowel  but  kept  an  originally  short  vowel  short 
before  the  lengthening  consonant  groups  mentioned 
in  §  3.  The  remarks  in  §  3,  Exceptions,  are  pecu- 
liarly applicable  here.  Thus  the  suffixes  -an  (infini- 


VOWEL-SHOBTENING.  15 

tive),  -en  (past  participle),  did  not  prevent  the 
lengthening  of  a  short  vowel  before  a  consonant 
group  ;  still  less  did  they  shorten  a  long  vowel. 
But  the  heavy  infinitive  ending  -ian  (O.  E. )  of  the 
second  weak  class  did  shorten  a  long  vowel,  as  in 

O.  E.  hdlgian  Mn.  E.  to  hallow, 

contrasted  with 

O.  E.  halig  Mn.  E.  holy. 

As  examples  of  suffixes  and  other  terminations 
shortening  a  long  vowel  or  keeping  a  short  vowel 
short,  may  be  noted  : 

O.  E.  cerende        Mn.  E.  errand. 

O.  E.  cild(e)ru    Mn.  E.  childer,  children. 

(contrast  O.  E.  did  did,    Mn.  E.  child). 

Perhaps  we  should  be  safe  in  holding  that  all  O.  E. 
words  of  three  syllables,  of  which  the  first  syllable 
contained  a  long  vowel,  have  shortened  that  vowel  ; 
as  in  O.  E.  fireotene,  Mn.  E.  thirteen,  metathesis  for 
threten. 

c.  Before  certain  consonant  combinations. 

1.  Before  ht,  whether  the  hi  was  an  original 
group  and  formed  an  integral  part  of  the  root  or 
stem,  or  was  formed  from  the  juxtaposition  of  a 
stem  ending  in  a  guttural  followed  by  an  inflectional 
syllable  beginning  with  a  dental.  Thus  : 


16  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  leoht     late  O.  E.  and  early  M.  E.  Uht. 
O.E.  sohte  "          "  "         sohte. 

O.  E.  brohte  "  "  "          brtfite. 

O.  E.  tcehte,  tahte,  "          "  "  tiehte,  tahte. 

See  §  15  B. 

2.  Before  -ft.     For  example  : 
O.  E.  sofa        M.  E.  s6jie. 
and  before  ss  from  t5s  and  is  from  ds.     Examples  : 

O.  E.  btiss        M.  E.  btiss. 
O.  E.  milts        M.  E.  m/lltse. 

Contrast 

O.  E.  bllZe       Mn.  E.  blithe  [ai]  ; 
O.  E.  milde       Mn.  E.  mild  [ai]  . 

Also  before  other  O.  E.  ss.     Thus  : 

O.  E.  Icessa        M.  E.  ttsse. 
and  before  -$8.     Thus  : 

O.  E.  stfftan,  late  O.  E.  seofiSan    M.  E.  sffiS&n. 
O.  E.  cy%%  M.  E.  ktth. 

O.  E.  rwaSSw  M.  E.  ivrath. 


3.  In  the  preterite  and  pret.  part,  of  weak  verbs, 
whenever  syncope  has  taken  place.     Thus  : 


VOWEL-SHOKTEMNG.  17 

O.  E.  cepan,  cepte,   M.  E.  k&pte  (keppte,  Orm. ) 
(note  Scottish  Jceepit,  unsyncopated. ) 
O.  E.  heran,  herde,  M.  E.  herde. 
O.  E.  clcedde  (Dan.  kleifta),  M.  E.  cl&dde. 

(compare  claftian,  claSede,  Mn.  E.  clothed, 
unsyncopated). 

The  old  reduplicating  verbs  :  slcepan,  ondrcedan, 
wepan,  swapan  have,  by  the  side  of  strong  preterite 
forms,  also  weak  preterites ;  these  latter  have  been 
shortened.  Thus : 

sUpte,   -drcedd,  w&pte,  swZpte. 

The  operation  or  non-operation  of  syncope  will 
account  for  such  parallel  forms  in  M.  E.  as  dealt 
(short),  dealed  (long). 

Syncope  will  also  account  for  the  present  tense 
drat  (Chaucer),  for  O.  E.  drcsdeH*. 

4.  There  are  other  shortenings,  less  uniform  and 
consequently  less  easy  to  classify  ;  they  seem  to  belong 
to  this  period  ;  at  any  rate,  to  the  thirteenth  century. 

a.  Before  st : 

O.  E.  breost        Mn.  E.  breast, 

(but  O.  E.  preost        Mn.  E.  priest). 
O.  E.  fistor         Mn.  E.  foster. 
O.  E.  dust          Mn.  E.  dust. 
O.  E.  fyst  Mn.  E.  fist. 


18  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  many  French  words  and 
even  in  English  words,  a  short  a  before  st  has  been 
lengthened  into  [g],  like  the  change  discussed  in 
§11.  For  example,  paste,  taste,  waste,  haste  'hurry,' 
pronounced  &  in  Chaucer's  day,  are  now  pronounced 
[/>|s<],  &c. 

b.  Before  se  (sA)  : 

O.  E.  wyscan     Mn.  E.  wish. 

O.  E.  ficesc        Mn.  E.  flesh  (flash  in  Orm. ) 

§  6.  Later  Shortening. — Some  shortenings  are 
to  be  set  down  as  late  M.  E.,  possibly  early  Mn.  E. 
Some  took  place  after  the  changes  in  vowel  quality 
mentioned  in  §§  9,  10,  12  ;  others  took  place  before. 

If  there  are  any  general  principles  governing  this 
later  shortening,  they  have  not  yet  been  discovered. 
For  the  present  these  changes  seem  arbitrary  and 
inconsistent.  For  example : 

O.  E.  Mn.  E. 

death  death  [£] . 

hce$  heath  [I] . 

dead  dead  [£] . 

lead  (metal)  lead  \e\. 

Icedan  '  to  conduct '      lead  [I] . 

deaf  deaf  [either  2  or  t] . 


VOWEL-SHOETENING. 


19 


O.  E. 

Mn.  E. 

heafod 

head       [£]. 

Gdf 

leaf         [TJ. 

fiod 

flood        [si]. 

god 

good        [ft]  . 

fod 

food        [u]  . 

ofter 

other       [a]  . 

boc 

book       [&]  . 

bosm 

bosom     [&,  or  u] 

hceftSu 

health     [8]. 

gendg 

enough    [9]  . 

ruh  (ruhh  Orm.  ) 

rough      [a]. 

stlf 

stiff         [«]. 

flf,  M.  E.  five 

five          [ai]  . 

duce 

duck        [9]  . 

seoc 

sick         [i]. 

monafi 

month      [si]  . 

teon 

ten          [«]. 

In  late  M.  E.,  especially  in  certain  texts  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  there  is  a  marked  tendency  to 
shorten  the  vowel  and  gemmate  the  consonant  in 
comparative  and  superlative  forms.  For  example,  in 
Piers  Plowman,  derrest  (deor),  herre  (heah),  gretter 
(great),  sonnest  (sona).  O.  E.  linen,  M.  E.  linnen, 
linen,  has  become  Mn.  E.  linen. 


20  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

The  change  of  [u]  to  [9]  in  such  words  as  flood, 
rough,  duck,  &c.,  is  very  late  (eighteenth  century). 
See  §  15  B. 

§  7.  Certain  Terminations. —  Certain  suffixes 
present  many  difficulties  and  require  special  treat- 
ment. 

a.  -tig,  Mn.  E.  -ty.     This  was  originally  an  inde- 
pendent word  used  to  form  compounds.     In  Gothic 
tigus  was  used  and  declined  as  an  ordinary  noun, 
meaning  a  'decade,'  a  unit  of  ten.     In  English  it 
shortened  a  long  stem  vowel  in  accordance  with  §  5  a. 

O.  E.  twentig  Mn.  E.  twenty. 

Krltig  thirty. 

This  numeral  suffix  is  mentioned  here  merely  to  dis- 
tinguish it  more  precisely  from  the  following. 

b.  -ig,  Mn.  E.  -y.     This  syllable,  even  in  O.  E., 
stood  for  at  least  two  different  formations. 

1.  In  the  O.  E.  popig  'poppy,'  Ifig  'ivy,'  bodig 
'  body,'  hunig  '  honey, '  it  is  a  noun-suffix  which  has 
not  yet  been  explained.  The  word  Ifig  '  ivy '  is  to 
be  put  in  a  class  by  itself ;  the  usual  etymology  treats 
it  as  lf-heg,  the  -heg  being  explained  as  the  old  form 
of  the  Mn.  E.  '  hay. '  The  etymology  is  anything 
but  satisfactory. 


VOWEL-SHOBTENING.  21 

The  other  three  words  are  equally  puzzling.  Popig 
is  supposed  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Latin  papdver; 
yet  why  papdver  or  evenpdpaver  should  become  popig 
no  one  seems  to  know.  In  hunig  the  suffix  -ig  appears 
to  come  from  an  earlier  -ang,  -eng ;  the  stem  hun-  is 
still  unexplained.  The  word  bodig  has  not  yet  been 
explained  in  either  of  its  syllables. 

2.  -ig  as  an  adjective  suffix  is  very  frequent.  It 
stands  for  a  G.  T.  -ag,  which  is  found  in  Gothic. 
Thus  O.  E.  hdlig  is  Gothic  hailag-s. 

Usually  the  -ig  adjective  does  not  shorten  the  stem 
vowel.  Thus  O.  E.  hdlig,  Mn.  E.  holy.  There  is, 
however,  one  exception  at  least ;  O.  E.  cenig  is  Mn.  E. 
any  [£].  Orm's  anig  is  ambiguous.  Perhaps  the 
shortening  of  cenig  is  due  to  the  influence  of  many. 

c.  Some  other  suffixes  need  more  investigation 
than  they  have  yet  received. 

1.  The  -en  of  the  pret.  part  and  the  -ian  of  the 
weak  infinitive  have  been  already  mentioned,  §  5  b. 
There  is,  however,  another  -en  used  as  an  adjective 
termination,  for  example  in  O.  E.  hcefien.     This  -en 
does  not  shorten  the  stem. 

2.  The  suffixes  -el,  -ol,  -et  seem  to  have  the  capacity 
of  shortening  a  long  vowel  or  keeping  a  short  vowel 
short,   contrary  to  the  principle  discussed  in  §  4. 
For  example : 


22  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  deofol  Mn.  E.  devil  (still  long 

in  Orm). 
O.  E.  hof  Mn.  E.  hovel. 

bremel «  *6romtf)  bramble. 

rynel  runnel. 

bueet  bucket. 

cemet  emmet,  ant. 

3.  For  the  effect  of  suffixes  of  comparison,  see  §  6, 
end.  The  M.  E.  and  Mn.  E.  pronunciation  of  such 
words  as  brcegen,  flcegel,  &c. ,  can  be  explained  only  in 
connection  with  the  general  diphthongization  before 
the  consonants  g,  h,  w.  See  §  15. 

3.   CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY. 

It  is  impossible  to  discuss  in  this  place  all  or  even 
most  of  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
quality  of  the  vowels.  We  must  content  ourselves 
with  looking  at  a  few  of  the  most  significant. 

§  8.  Levelling. — 1.  The  distinction  between  ce 
and  a  in  O.  E.  ceased  to  be  maintained.  In  M.  E. 
we  find  in  general  only  a,  for  instance  O.  E.  woes, 
M.  E.  was ;  though  occasionally  we  find  ce,  and  in  a 
few  instances  the  ce  survives  as  e  in  M.  E.,  for 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  23 

instance  creft,  foet  in  Kentish.  Thus  O.  E.  dwges 
(gen.  sing. )  and  dagos  (nom.  ace.  pi. )  are  in  M.  E. 
dages  for  both  ;  yet  in  dialect  forms  the  old  value  of 
dagos  survived  in  the  now  archaic  daws  ;  compare 
also  dawn,  O.  E.  dagenian,  §  15.  The  ordinary 
plural  days  has  evidently  been  modelled  upon  the 
singular  day. 

This  levelling  of  a,  ce  to  a  usually  takes  place 
even  where  the  ce  is  a  shortening  of  O.  E.  OB  ;  though 
not  infrequently  the  ce  is  found  as  e  in  M.  E.  and 
Mn.  E.  For  example  : 

O.  E.  clcensian  M.  E.  clcensien,  clansian  ; 

Mn.  E.  cleanse. 
O.  E.  fadde  M.  E.  ledde,  ladde  ; 

Mn.  E.  led. 

2.  O.  E.  eo  for  G.  T.  a  also  appears  as  a  in  M.  E. 
Here  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  dialectic  differences 
in  O.  E. 

In  W.  S.  a  was  regularly  ea  before  I  -J-  cons,  and 
r  -j-  cons. 

In  Northumbrian  a  remained  a  in  both  situations. 

In  Mercian  a  remained  a  before  l-\-  cons,  but 
became  eo  before  r  -\-  cons.  Consequently  we  find  : 

W.  S.  feallan      North,  fallan      Merc,  fallan 
W.  S.  wearm       North,  warm       Merc,  wearm. 


24  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

Since  standard  Mn.  E.  is  derived  from  Mercian,  we 
should  expect  to  find  Mercian  wearm  appearing  as 
wcerm,  werm  in  M.  E.  In  reality  we  find  warm  in 
M.  E.  The  explanation  seems  to  be  this.  The 
vowel  sign  ea  in  O.  E.  did  not  represent  a  sound 
e  -\-  a,  but  a  sound  ce  -J-  a  or  perhaps  CK>  ;  the  stress 
being  on  the  ce.  This  ce  became  a  like  the  ce  in  1. 

3.  O.  E.  eo  for  e  before  h  and  before  r  -f-  cons,  is 
levelled  to  e  in  M.  E.     For  example  : 

O.  E.  feohtan         M.  E.  fehten. 

4.  O.  E.  ea  and  ce  (except  when  shortened  to  a, 
see  1)  become  |.     For  example  : 

O.  E.  beam  M.  E.  bgm. 
tear  tgre. 

~eac  |&(e). 

sprmce  spgche. 

deed  d$de. 

street  strgte. 

(Compare  Eadmund,  Edmund;  Stratford,  §  5  a). 

5.  O.  E.  eo  became  e  in  M.  E.     For  example  : 

O.  E.  frebsan        M.  E.  fresen 
leaf  lef 

debp  dep 


,EL  QUALITY.  25 

steopfader,  Mn.  E.  step- 


}  vowel  written  e  in 
were  carefully  distin- 
period  and  even  well 
>ne  is  the  open  or  un- 
ich  meme  ;  in  modern 
n  I .  The  other  is  the 
snch  bonte.  Modern 
it  with  the  sign  $  ; 
necessary, 
sounds  is  not  only 
..  illustrates  an  important  point 
.~iy  of  the  language.  Although  M.  E.  did 
...  ,„  mark  the  distinction  in  writing,  it  kept  the  sounds 
apart.  Thus  Chaucer  seldom  makes  the  sounds  rime. 
When,  on  the  border  line  between  M.  E.  and  Mn.  E. , 
printing  was  introduced  into  England,  the  early 
printers  established  the  practice  (though  not  a  very 
consistent  one)  of  using  ea  for  the  open  sound  and 
ee  or  ie  for  the  close  sound.  Hence  we  get  the 
spellings  teach,  O.  E.  t&cean ;  deep,  O.  E.  deop  ; 
field,  O.  E.  feld,  see  §  3.  1. 

O.  E.  e  in  a  few  words,  such  as  the  adverb  her,  was 
an  original  close  e. 


24  VOWEL  CHANC 

Since  standard  Mn.  E.  is  derive* 
should  expect  to  find  Mercian 
wcerm,  werm  in  M.  E.     In  re? 
M.  E.      The   explanation   set 
vowel  sign  ea  in  O.  E.  did 
e  -f-  «>  but  a  sound  ce  -f-  a  or 
being  on  the  ce.     This  ce  beca 

3.  O.  E.  eo  for  e  before  h 
levelled  to  e  in  M.  E.     For 

O.  E.  feohtan         M.  " 

4.  O.  E.  ed  and  ce  (e: 

see  1)  become  g.     For 

O.  E.  beam  M.  E.  bgm. 
tear  tgre. 

eac  p(e). 

sprcece  spgche. 

dcsd  dgde. 

street  strgte. 

(Compare  Eadmund,  Edmund;  Stratford,  §  5  a). 

5.  O.  E.  eo  became  e  in  M.  E.     For  example  : 

O.  E.  frebsan        M.  E.  fresen 
leof  lef 

debp  dep 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  25 

(Note  the  shortening  in  steopfceder,  Mn.  E.  step- 
father, §  5a). 

§  9.  The  Vowel  e. — The  vowel  written  e  in 
M.  E.  had  two  sounds,  which  were  carefully  distin- 
guished throughout  the  M.  E.  period  and  even  well 
into  the  Mn.  E.  time.  The  one  is  the  open  or  un- 
rounded vowel,  like  the  French  meme  ;  in  modern 
grammatical  books  it  is  written  f .  The  other  is  the 
close  or  rounded  e,  like  the  French  bonte.  Modern 
grammarians  usually  designate  it  with  the  sign  £ ; 
the  subscript  dot,  however,  is  not  necessary. 

The  distinction  between  the  two  sounds  is  not  only 
important  in  itself  but  illustrates  an  important  point 
in  the  history  of  the  language.  Although  M.  E.  did 
not  mark  the  distinction  in  writing,  it  kept  the  sounds 
apart.  Thus  Chaucer  seldom  makes  the  sounds  rime. 
When,  on  the  border  line  between  M.  E.  and  Mn.  E. , 
printing  was  introduced  into  England,  the  early 
printers  established  the  practice  (though  not  a  very 
consistent  one)  of  using  ea  for  the  open  sound  and 
ee  or  ie  for  the  close  sound.  Hence  we  get  the 
spellings  teach,  O.  E.  tcecean ;  deep,  O.  E.  deop  ; 
field,  O.  E.  feldf  see  §  3.  1. 

O.  E.  e  in  a  few  words,  such  as  the  adverb  her,  was 
an  original  close  e. 


26  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  e,  the  i-umlaut  of  6,  was  close. 

O.  E.  e  produced  by  lengthening  before  -Id  was 
close. 

O.  E.  ce  was  open  £  in  M.  E. 

O.  E.  8  lengthened  in  open  syllable,  see  §  4,  was 
open  |  in  M.  E. 

Old  Mercian  e,  the  i-umlaut  of  ea  (the  W.  S.  form 
was  ie),  was  close  e  in  M.  E. 

Examples. 

0.  E.  metan          M.  E.  meten  Mn.  E.  meet  (verb). 

mite  m%te  meat. 

sttlan  st$le  deal. 

her  an  (W.  S.  hieran)  hear. 

M.  E.  heren. 

In  the  matter  of  chronology,  M.  E.  e  went  over  to 
the  [I]  sound  in  late  M.  E. ;  the  change  was  com- 
plete by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  as  in  the 
words  deep,  feel,  and  in  the  pronouns  me,  he,  &c.  ; 
see  §  4.  Whereas  the  M.  E.  f  still  remained  open 
and  did  not  become  e,  [I]  until  near  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Shakespeare,  in  1  Hen.  IV, 
ii,  4,  264,  lets  Falstaff  say  :  "If  reasons  were  as 
plentiful  as  blackberries,  I  would  give  no  man  a 
reason  upon  compulsion."  Falstaff  pronounces 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  27 

reason  with  an  evident  pun  on  raisin.  The  O. 
French  reson,  borrowed  in  early  M.  E. ,  was  already 
somewhat  rounded  but  not  wholly ;  since  Shake- 
speare's day  it  has  been  fully  rounded  into  e  [I]. 
But  the  Fr.  raisin  is  still  pronounced  r&sin.  In  the 
days  of  Shakespeare  the  two  words  were  still  enough 
alike  to  justify  Falstaffs  pun. 

The  open  f  survived,  for  the  most  part,  in  Dry- 
den's  day.  In  fact,  something  like  it  is  found  even 
in  Pope,  in  foreign  words  borrowed  with  the  |  sound. 
Thus  Pope,  Rape  of  the  Lock,  m,  296,  rimes  tea 
with  obey.  Obey,  Fr.  obeir,  is  still  pronounced  obei, 
but  t g  has  become  [ti] . 

Recognition  of  the  fact  that  g  remained  open  in  the 
seventeenth  century  will  explain  the  most  striking 
peculiarity  of  the  English  pronunciation  in  Ireland. 
The  English  language  was  firmly  implanted  in 
Ireland  by  the  great  colonizing  efforts  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  Oliver  Cromwell.  Now  the  Eliza- 
bethan and  Cromwellian  colonists  still  pronounced 
tgch,  spgch,  clgn,  and  this  was  the  pronunciation 
which  the  Irish  learned  from  them.  Since  that  time 
all  Englishmen  have  changed  to  [tlch,  splch,  cliri], 
and  the  educated  Irish  have  partially  learned  to 
make  the  change  ;  but  the  uneducated  Irish  still 
cling  to  the  older  f . 


28  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

§  10.  The  Vowel  a.  —  An  O.  E.  a,  whether 
originally  long  or  the  result  of  the  lengthening  of  a 
before  Id  (see  §  3.  1),  became  g  in  M.  E.  The 
change  took  place  in  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  ;  consequently  it  affected  Danish  and  Latin 
words  borrowed  in  O.  E. 

O.  E.  aid,  did  Mn.  E.  old. 
stdn  stone, 

papa  pope, 

frd  (Danish)  fro  (adverb). 

Orm  wrote  before  the  change ;  consequently  we 
find  in  the  Ormulum  :  an,  stdn,  got  (one,  stone, 
goaf).  But  in  the  poem  entitled  On  God  Ureison 
(thirteenth  century)  we  find  such  rimes  as  :  one, 
trone  (0.  E.  an,  Fr.  trone)  verses  21-22 ;  ore, 
uerlore(n)  (O.  E.  are,  forloreri)  verses  73-74.  See 
§4.' 

In  some  MSS.  the  vowel  is  written  oa.  Sometimes 
we  find  two  forms  of  the  same  word,  the  one  original 
O.  E.,  the  other  Danish.  Thus  : 

1Our  Mn.  standard  pronunciation  of  the  numeral  [wan] 
was  originally  dialectic  and  is  found  in  the  dialectic  pronun- 
ciation of  such  words  as  oath,  oak,  oats;  see  Wright,  Engl. 
Dial.  Grammar,  §  123.  The  earlier  Q  sound,  however,  sur- 
vives— partially  rounded — in  only,  atone. 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  29 

O.  E.  Icen,  M.  E.  Igne ;  Dan.  Ian,  M.  E.  l$ne, 
Mn.  E.  loan.  In  some  instances  the  O.  E.  itself  has 
two  different  vowels.  For  example  : 

O.  E.  ddl,    Mn.  E.  dole  ;   O.  E.  dcel,   Mn.  E.  deal. 
O.  E.  -had,  Mn.  E.  -hood;  O.E.  -hed,  Mn.  E.  -head. 
(Compare  knighthood  and  godhead. ) 

The  M.  E.  vowel  developed  from  the  O.  E.  a  was 
an  open  g.  In  the  word  O.  E.  brad,  M.  E.  brqd, 
Mn.  E.  broad,  the  sound  has  remained  wide  open  to 
the  present  day.  In  most  words,  however,  it  has 
been  rounded  as  we  now  hear  it  in  road,  boat.  Thus 
g  (O.  E.  a)  and  g  (O.  E.  o  in  open  syllable,  §  4) 
are  now  equivalent  in  sound,  as  in  the  rime  pope, 
hope.1 

When  preceded  by  w  the  Q  became  fully  rounded, 
in  most  words,  after  Chaucer's  time,  and  like  the 
original  close  o  passed  over  into  the  [u]  sound,  as  in 
two,  who,  [tu,  hu]  •  ooze,  O.  E.  ivase.  But  in  so 
(O.  E.  swd),  woe  (O.  E.  wa),  the  o  sound  remains. 

§  11.  Open-syllable  Lengthening  of  O.  E.  a. — 
In  §  4  it  was  said  that  O.  E.  a  in  an  open  syllable 

1  The  peculiar  New  England  pronunciation  of  such  words 
as  coat,  boat,  may  be  a  modified  survival  of  the  old  open 
sound,  but  shortened. 


30  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

was  lengthened  in  M.  E.  This  lengthened  vowel 
must  have  had  a  peculiar  quality  of  sound,  neither 
the  a  nor  the  e  nor  the  o.  It  has  always  been  writ- 
ten and  printed  a  ;  yet  it  must  have  had  an  e  value. 
This  e,  however,  can  not  have  resembled  the  e 
in  stelan,  which  has  become  [I]  in  Mn.  E.,  whereas 
O.  E.  faran,  M.  E.  fare  is  pronounced  [/if]  in 
Mn.  E.  The  [g]  sound  is  common  in  the  sixteenth 
century ;  whether  earlier,  we  do  not  know.  At  any 
rate  it  must  have  differed  from  the  e  in  tgche ;  for 
the  latter  has  become  [I] . 

The  lengthening  of  a  to  [g]  is  later  than  the  change 
of  O.  E.  a  to  o.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  treatment 
of  French  words  borrowed  at  various  times  in  the 
M.  E.  period.  In  French  words  having  the  French 
accent  on  the  syllable  containing  the  a,  the  a  was 
lengthened.  Thus  age,  sage,  grace  became  age,  sage, 
grace,  Mn.  E.  [jj] .  Some  of  these  words  must  have 
been  introduced  quite  late,  certainly  after  the  O.  E.  a 
had  become  M.  E.  [g] .  In  fact  it  is  evident  that  the 
conversion  of  a,  a  to  [|]  did  not  take  place  before  the 
fifteenth  century.  In  Chaucer's  language  such  words 
as  face,  grace,  age  have  the  [a],  not  the  [f]  sound. 

It  is  very  important  to  note  the  part  played  by  the 
French  accent.  Why  do  we  pronounce  face  [g]  but 
chapel  ?  The  word  face  had  the  accent  on  the  a  in 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  31 

French  and  also  from  the  start  in  M.  E.  But  chapel 
was  borrowed  with  the  accent  chapel  and  continued 
for  some  time  to  be  pronounced  chapel  in  English. 
By  the  time  the  accent  became  chapel  the  principle 
— or  impulse — of  lengthening  had  ceased  to  operate. 
This  will  account  for  the  short  a  in  cabin,  cattle, 
marry. 

§  12.  O.  E.  o  (close). — O.  E.  o  remained  5  until 
the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  was  still  farther  rounded 
into  an  u  sound.  This  it-sound  (00)  never  was  a 
perfectly  pure  u  ;  for  it  has  not  been  diphthonged 
into  au.  See  §  14. 

The  tendency  to  change  o  into  oo  has  affected  even 
French  words  ;  for  instance,  faux  pas,  sometimes 
pronounced  foopah. 

Examples. 


O.  E.  dom 

Mn.  E.  doom. 

col 

cool. 

gos 

goose. 

id% 

tooth. 

mona  moon. 


It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  in  many 
O.  E.  words  the  o  was  shortened  in  early  M.  E. 
Where  this  shortening  took  place  before  ht  there 


32  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

was  a  peculiar  diphthonging  of  the  oht.  See  §  5  c, 
§  15. 

There  are  other  shortenings  less  easy  to  account 
for.  Thus : 

O.  E.  6Ser,  broftor,  modor,  all  now  with  the  [si] 
sound.  See  §  6. 

In  certain  words  the  oo  has  been  shortened  in 
Mn.  E.  to  the  u  sound.  For  example,  foot  (versus 
food),  book,  good.  In  bosom  the  vowel  is  either 
short  or  long. 

In  glove,  blood,  flood,  and  some  others,  the  vowel 
has  become  [&]  ;  see  §  6.  This  [9]  is  found  also  in 
some  words  which  had  an  O.  E.  u,  or  an  O.  E.  u, 
in  open  syllable  in  M.  E.  For  example  : 

O.  E.  abufan  Mn.  E.  above, 

dufe  dove, 

lufu  love. 

O.  E.  o  when  lengthened  in  open  syllable  became 
Q.  Examples  : 

O.  E.  Krotu      M.  E.  Srgfe    Mn.  E.  throat, 
hopian  hypien  hope, 

dropa  drgpe. 

Chaucer,  Tr.  and  Or.,  I,  941,  rimes  drgpe  with  hype. 
The  modern  drop  can  not  be  this  word  but  must  come 
from  O.  E.  *drop,  or  *dropp. 


CHANGES  IN  VOWEL  QUALITY.  33 

Thus  O.  E.  o  lengthened  and  O.  E.  a  have  come 
together  in  vowel-quality.  This  is  indicated  by  the 
Mn.  E.  spelling  :  throat  (O.  E.  ftrotu);  road  (O.  E. 
rod). 

Did  O.  E.  o  before  Id  become  o  or  g  ?  The  usual 
opinion  is  that  it  became  g.  Yet  there  are  objections 
to  this  view.  The  only  word  in  question  is  gold 
(gold  in  Mn.  E. ).  This  pronunciation  may  be  ex- 
plained, however,  by  assuming  that  gold,  an  isolated 
form,  has  been  influenced  by  the  very  numerous 
words  in  -old  from  O.  E.  -aid,  such  as  cold,  bold, 
told,  sold.  Further,  the  word  as  a  proper  name  is 
written  Gould,  Goold.  This  oo  sound  presupposes 
M.  E.  o.  Finally,  the  pronunciation  goold  survived 
in  the  speech  of  old-fashioned  persons  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

§  13.  O.  E.  t,  /;  u,  u. —  These  vowels  remained 
unchanged  throughout  the  M.  E.  period.  The 
lengthening  of  i  and  u,  y  before  nd  is  O.  E.  See 
§3.2. 

The  vowels  i,  u,  y  are  not  lengthened  in  open 
syllables. 

All  through  the  M.  E.  period  -and  even  in  Mn.  E. 
there  is  a  curious  interchange  of  i  and  e.  Thus  we 
find  Mn.  E.  hinge,  singe,  springe,  for  M.  E.  henge, 


34  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

senge,  sprenge,  see  §  20,  D.  2  ;  also  Mn.  E.  wing  for 
M.  E.  weng.  But  in  drench,  wrench,  and  other 
words,  the  M.  E.  e  remains.  In  the  Ayenbite  (four- 
teenth century)  the  Mn.  E.  word  sin  is  written  zenne 
(initial  z  for  s  is  Southern  dialect). 

4.     DlPHTHONGIZATION. 

Under  this  heading  are  treated  several  groups  of 
phenomena  differing  widely  in  their  chronology  and 
in  their  phonetic  value. 

§  14.  Diphthonging  of  *,  u. — Every  I,  whether 
long  in  O.  E.,  or  lengthened  according  to  §  3.  2, 
or  borrowed  in  M.  E.  from  a  foreign  language,  has 
become  [ai]  in  Mn.  E. 

O.  E.  y  (i- umlaut  of  w)  has  also  become  [at]. 

This  diphthonging  process  began  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  continued  through  the  sixteenth. 

The  change  affected  also  the  peculiar  I  developed 
in  late  M.  E.  before  h  or  g.  See  §  15. 

The  modern  pronunciation  of  the  diphthong  is 
[ai] .  But  this  is  only  the  latest  stage  ;  it  must  have 
been  preceded  by  such  earlier  stages  as  [ei]  and 
perhaps  [oi]. 


DIPHTHONGIZATION.  35 

Examples. 

O.  E.  mm  Mn.  E.  mine, 
findan,  findan  find, 

fyr  fire, 

bryd  bride. 

Note  also  the  very    late   diphthonging  of  either, 

neither.     These  were  in   O.  E.  cegfter,  *ncegfter;  in 

•3 

M.  E.  Cither,  neither.  See  §  15,  ^  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  the  pronunciation  vacillated  between 
[g]  and  p].  The  pronunciation  [ai]  crept  in  late 
in  the  eighteenth  century. 

In  like  manner  O.  E.    u  has  become  [aw]  ;  the 
intermediate  stage  was  [era] . 

Examples. 

O.  E.  hus  Mn.  E.  house. 

mu$  mouth, 

bunden,  bunden  bound. 

This  change  of  u  to  [aw]  is  not  parallel  at  every 
point  with  the  change  of  I  to  [ai].  It  has  not 
affected  foreign  words,  for  example,  Judas,  sure  or 
even  the  English  words  youth,  uncouth.  In  youth, 
and  in  Judas,  sure,  and  other  words  under  French 
influence,  the  vowel  did  not  have  the  pure  [u] 
sound  but  was  rather  an  [t'w].  The  distinction  is 


36  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

illustrated  by  the  O.  E.  sur,  which  had  a  pure  u  and 
which  is  now  pronounced  sour  [aw]  ;  with  it  com- 
pare the  Fr.  stir,  which  is  the  Mn.  E.  sure  [  Jiwr] . 
Note  also  the  Mn.  E.  duke,  tube,  pronounced  cor- 
rectly with  [iu] ,  not  with  [u] . 

The  very  late  M.  E.  oo  from  O.  E.  5  did  not  have 
the  pure  u  sound  either  ;  for  it  has  not  been  changed 
to  [aw].  See  §  12. 

The  diphthonging  of  u  to  [aw]  took  place  after 
the  fifteenth  century.  In  fact,  there  is  evidence  that 
the  earlier  u  sound  survived  in  the  speech  of  old- 
fashioned  persons  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Thus,  in  Farquhar's  Love  and  a 
Bottle  (1698),  Act  2,  Scene  2,  Rigadoon  says  : 

' '  Zoons  is  only  used  by  the  disbanded  officers  and 
bullies  ;  but  zauns  is  the  beaux'  pronunciation." 

In  this  connection  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  ordi- 
nary pronunciation  of  wound  'injury,'  is  [u] ;  we 
pronounce  [ait]  only  in  poetry  ;  similarly  wind,  '  air, 
breeze,'  has  \ai\  only  in  poetry  ;  in  prose  the  pro- 
nunciation is  wind. 

In  sound  'noise,'  from  French  son,  we  have  the 
[aw]  ;  also  in  the  verb  sound  '  to  test  the  depth, ' 
French  sonder.  In  these  words,  however,  the  [aw] 
may  be  due  to  the  analogy  of  sound  l  healthy, '  O.  E. 


DIPHTHONGING.  37 

sund,  sund,  and  sound  '  arm  of  the  sea, '  O.  E.  sund, 
sund. 

§  15.    Diphthonging  before  g ;   h ;   w. 

A.    Before  g. 

1.  O.  E.   ce,  M.  E.  a,  before  g  produced  [afj. 
This,  [at]  probably  survives  in  the  London  Cockney 
pronunciation  of  day,  daisy,  may,  &c.     In  Chaucer, 
however,    and   in   modern    standard   English   since 
Chaucer,  the  \ai\  has  been  levelled  to  \ei\ ;  Chaucer 
and  all  modern  poets  rime  way   (O.  E.  weg*)   and 
day  (O.  E.  dceg~). 

Examples. 

O.  E.  brcegen  Mn.  E.  brain, 

fagen  fain, 

flcegel  flail, 

wcegen  wain. 

(Mn.  E.  wagon  is  from  the  Dutch. ) 

2.  O.  E.  e  before  g  produced  [ei] . 

Example  :  weg,  Mn.  E.  way. 

3.  O.  E.  ce  before  g  produced  |i,  which  survived 
quite  late  in  Mn.  E. ,  but  in  the  eighteenth  century 
went   over   to   [I]   in   such  words  as   O.  E.   ce^er. 
Dr.  Johnson  pronounced  either  \£i\;  but  in  his  day 


38  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

the  pronunciation  had  already  become  [t]  and  was 
even  becoming  [a{] .     See  §  14. 

N.  B.     O.  E.  eceg  is  Mn.  E.  key 
grceg  gray 

4.  O.  E.    e   (whether    original    or  the   Mercian 
i-umlaut  of  ea)  and  ea  before  g  produced  ei,  which 
at  the  end  of  the  M.  E.  and  beginning  of  the  Mn.  E. 
period  went  over  to  \i\  and  was  still  later  diph- 
thonged  to  [at] . 

Examples. 

O.  E.  cage  M.  E.  ege  (a)          Mn.  E.  eye. 

tegan    (W.  S.  tiegan)    M.  E.  tegen  tie. 

degan  M.  E.  degen  die. 

deagian  M.  E.  deyen  dye. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Scottish  pronunciation  of 
eye  '  oculus  '  and  die  '  mori '  is  still  [i,  dl~\ . 

5.  O.  E.  eo  ;  I,  I  ;  y,  y  before  g  produced  early 
M.  E.  ei,  late  M.  E.  [I] ,  which  has  been  diphthonged 
to  [at]  in  Mn.  E. 

• 

Examples. 

O.  E.  lebgan  '  mentiri '  Mn.  E.  lie. 

dreogan  '  to  endure  '  (Scotch)  dree, 

flebgan  fly. 

nigon  nine, 

ligeft  lieth. 


DIPHTHONGING.  39 

dryge  dry. 

tigofta  tithe. 

6.    O.  E.  a  before  g  produced  the  peculiar  ou,  aw 
sound  (§)  ;  see  §  20  B.     For  example  : 

O.  E.  lagu  (Danish)  Mn.  E.  law. 

dragan  draw, 

sagu  (a  saying)  saw. 

O.  E.  a  before  g  produced  gw,  o. 

O.  E.  agan  Mn.  E.  owe  (verb). 

O.  E.  o  before  g  produced  QW,  o. 

boga  Mn.  E.  bow  'arcus.' 

O.  E.  ug,  ttg  produced  M.  E.  uw,  Mn.  E.  [au] . 
O.  E.  bugan  Mn.  E.  (to)  bow. 

fugol  Mn.  E.  fowl. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  where  in  O.  E.  the  g 
was  final,  it  became  h.  Consequently  words  ending 
in  g  belong  in  subsection  E. 

B.    Before  h. 

1.    O.  E.  eh,  eoh  ;  Mercian  eh,  ceh  (W.  S.  eah), 
became  M.  E.  eig h  eih,  Mn.  E.  [I] .     For  example  : 
O.  E.  feoh  Mn.  E.  fee. 

O.  E.  seh  (Mercian)  Chaucer  seigh. 

Mn.  E.  dialect  see  (for  saw~).     See  No.  5. 


40  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

2.  O.  E.  eoh  has  become  even  [at]  in  Mn.  E. 
O.  E.  SeoA      M.  E.  />e&,  frh      Mn.  E.  thigh. 

3.  O.  E.  ceh  before  t  of  the  weak  preterite  and 
preterite  participle  was  shortened  to  ahte,  elite :   see 
§  5.  c.  1  ;  §  8.     These  became  M.  E.  eighte,  aughte. 
In  Chaucer  the  eighte  forms  are   still  found.     In 
Mn.  E.  we  have  only  aught  forms. 

Examples. 

O.  E.  rcshte  (pret.  of  rojcetm)     M.  E.  rehte, 
rahte  ;  Chaucer  reighte,  raughte  ; 

Mn.  E.  raught  [&] . 

O.  E.  tcehte  Mn.  E.  taught. 

M.  E.  caeche  (French  cacher')     Mn.  E.  caught. 

The  modern  distraught  is  a  corruption  of  the  French 
distrait,  after  the  analogy  of  straught,  old  pret.  of 
stretch. 

4.  O.  E.  eah  became  M.  E.  eigh,  later  [I],  still 
later  diphthonged  to  [at] .     For  example  : 

O.  E.  heah;  in  Chaucer  heigh\ei\  ;  Mn.  E. 
high.  Chaucer  also  pronounces  [i] ,  to  rime 
with  Emilie. 

5.  O.  E.  ah  (Mercian   for  W.  S.   eah~)    became 
augh  [&] .     For  example  : 

O.  E.  sah  (preterite)    M.  E.  saugh    Mn.  E.  saw. 


DIPHTHONGING.  41 

See  No.  1,  remarks  on  eh.  Chaucer  has  both  saugh 
and  seigh. 

O.  E.  dhte  was  shortened  to  ahte  and  also  became 
aughte. 

O.  E.  ahte,  ahte  Mn.  E.  ought. 

6.  O.  E.  ah  became  M.  E.  Qugh     Mn.  E.  owe. 
O.  E.  dah  Mn.  E.  dough. 

7.  O.  E.  o/ii,  shortened  to  oht  (§  5,  c.  1),  became 
ou  [&]  ;  O.  E.  sohte,  sohte,  Mn.  E.  sought. 

8.  O.  E.  oA. ;  uh,  uh  ;  iiht,  uht.    Theoretically  all 
these  sounds  must  have  been  ugh  or  ugh  in  M.  E. 
But  in  point  of  fact  they   have   been  so  strangely 
developed  in  Mn.  E.  as  to  resist  every  attempt  at 
classification.     Thus : 

O.  E.  genog,  genoh  Mn.  E.  enough  [9]. 
toh  tough  [9]. 

ruh  rough  [9]. 

]nruh,  \>urh  through  [u]. 

ploh  plough  [era]. 

bog,  boh  bough  [au]. 

In  such  words  as  genog,  toh,  ruh  we  may  assume 
that  the  h  sound  went  over  to  the  /  sound,  and  before 
this  /  the  vowel  was  shortened  like  the  e  in  deaf; 
see  §  6.  The  change  of  [u]  to  [a]  is  not  peculiar 
to  this  class  of  words  ;  it  is  a  very  late  process 


42  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

(eighteenth  century),  occurring  in  but,  us,  punch, 
flood,  &c.     See  §  6. 

C.    Before  w. 

1.  O.  E.  aw  before  a  vowel  became  the  peculiar 
Mn.  E.  ou,  aw  [§] . 

O.  E.  clawu  Mn.  E.  claw. 

2.  O.  E.  aw  before  vowel  became  M.  E.  QU. 
O.  E.  ow  before  vowel  became  M.  E.  ou. 
In  Mn.  E.  both  sounds  are  o. 

O.  E.  cnawan  Mn.  E.  know, 

growan  grow. 

3.  O.  E.  eow,  law,  cew  became  M.  E.  g,  ew  [iu] . 
O.  E.  eowu         M.  E.  gwe          Mn.  E.  ewe. 

sceawian  M.  E.  shgwen 

Icewed  Mn.  E.  leivd. 

4.  O.  E.  eow,  lw,  lw  became  M.  E.  eu,  ew  [iii\ . 
O.  E.  cneow  Mn.  E.  knew. 

In  Mn.  E.  the  words  in  both  No.  3  and  No.  4  are 
pronounced  with  an  [iu]  sound,  or  even  with  an 
[iu].  There  is  no  Mn.  E.  verb  shew  with  [_iu]. 
The  verb  show,  even  if  written  shew,  is  pronounced 
sho.  This  o  must  go  back  to  an  O.  E.  sc(e)awian, 
in  which  the  O.  E.  stress  [ea]  has  been  shifted  to 
the  Danish  ed  [ia] .  See  No.  2. 


DIPHTHONGING.  43 

D.  Two  other  phenomena,  very  curious,  are  best 
treated  in  this  connection. 

1.  Not  infrequently  we  get  in  M.  E.  an  ei  diph- 
thong in  the  preterite  and  pret.  part,  of  verbs  the 
stem  of  which   ends  in  a   ch  sound.     Thus  O.  E. 
cwencan,    pret.    cwencte,    has    in   M.  E.    a    pret. 
queynte  ;  O.  E.   blencan  has  a  M.  E.  pret.   bleynte. 
Thus  far  no  explanation   of  the   phenomenon   has 
been  found.     If  we  assume,  for  example,  that  blen- 
can is  from  *blankion,  the  preterite  should  be  either 
*blanlde,  *blanhte  (syncope  of  the  i,  t)  OT*blenchte 
(c  palatal  according  to  §  19).     See  Sievers,  §  407. 
In  other  words,  if  j,  i  is  syncopated,  the  stem  vowel 
should  not  be  umlauted  to  e,  ei;  if  i,  i  remains,  the 
c  should  be  fully  palatalized. 

2.  In  some  words  the  O.  E.  consonant  /  between 
vowels,  pronounced  v  in  O.  E.,  has  gone  over  to  a 
w  sound  and  produced  diphthonging. 

O.  E.  hafoc  Mn.  E.  hawk, 

ceafol  jowl. 

In  this  last  word  the  initial  ch  has  become  j ;  see 
§  18.  4). 

The  diphthonging  before  g,  h,  and  to  is  a  difficult 
problem  in  the  history  of  English  vowels.  Many  of 
the  features  appear  arbitrary. 

Of  Chaucer's  pronunciation  in  particular  it  may 


44  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

be  said  that  the  h  and  gh  are  not  yet  silent  letters. 
The  h  closely  resembled  the  German  ch  ;  the  gh 
probably  resembled  the  German  g  in  sagen,  as  that 
word  is  spoken  in  Midland  Germany. 

§  16.    Diphthonging  before  I  and  r. 

1.  The  vowel  a  before  I  final,  or  before  II,  I  plus 
consonant  (except  the  Id  discussed  in  §  3),  was  diph- 
thonged  subsequent  to  the  fourteenth  century  into  an 
ou,  aw  [§]  sound.  Some  of  the  changes  took  place 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Chaucer  still  has  the 
original  pure  a  sound.  For  example  : 

alle  Mn.  E.  all  (§). 
falle  fall, 

talke  talk, 

balled  '  thin  -haired '  bald. 

With  the  last  word  compare 

O.  E.  bald,  bald    M.  E.  b$ld    Mn.  E.  bold. 

In  such  words  as  talk,  chalk,  &c.,  the  I  has  become 
silent  In  calf  the  I  is  silent  but  the  a  is  not  diph- 
thonged. 

A  similar  diphthonging  has  taken  place  in  the 
American  pronunciation  of  certain  words,  for  ex- 
ample, swamp,  wasp. 

2.    The  vowel  o  before  I  plus  consonant  (except 


DIPHTHONGING.  45 

O.  E.  Id  ;  see  §  3  and  §  12)  became  after  Chau- 
cer's time  o. 

folk  Mn.  E.  folk, 

bolt  bolt. 

Before  k  the  I  has  become  silent,  like  the  I  in  chalk. 
3.  The  vowel  changes  before  r  can  scarcely  be 
reduced  to  a  system.  At  this  point  the  pronunciation 
usual  in  America  differs  from  that  in  England.  The 
difference  shows  itself  in  two  directions. 

a.  In  England  the  r  when  final  or  before  a  con- 
sonant is  not  spoken  as  a  consonant  but  is  reduced  to 
a  mere    'glide',    with  the  value   of  9.      For  ex- 
ample, water  pronounced  [wQt 9] . 

b.  In  England  the  e  often,  if  not  usually,  becomes 
a.     For  example,  the  word  clerk  may  be  pronounced 
cladk. 

Examples. 

O.  E.  beorcan  (of  a  dog)     M.  E.  berke 

Mn.  E.  bark,  ba&k. 

(The  pronunciation  has  coincided  with  that  of 
M.  E.  barke  of  a  tree,  and  of  bark  '  vessel,'  from 
the  French  barque. ) 

O.  E.  steorra        M.  E.  sterre  star, 

feor  fert  ferre  far. 

clerk  [cbrk,  cloak.] 


46  VOWEL  CHANGES. 

birce  birche  [torch,  bdch.~\ 

brid  brid,  bird        \b&rd,  bdd.~\ 

cursian  curse  [cars,  cas.] 

The  vowel  o  before  r  final  or  r  plus  consonant  has 
become  [&]. 

O.  E.  for  Mn.  E.  for 

fort)  forth 

With  these  compare  the  following  : 

M.  E.  moral      Mn.  E.  moral 
O.  E.  sorg      M.  E.  sorwe       Mn.  E.  sorrow 
sdrig     M.  E.  syry         Mn.  E.  sorry 

CHRONOLOGICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  CHANGES 

IN  §§  3-16. 
§17. 

1.  The  earliest  change  was  that  in  §  3,  namely, 
the  lengthening   before   certain    consonants.      This 
took  place  before  1000  and  is  wholly  O.  E. 

2.  Next  in  time  was  the  earlier  shortening  dis- 
cussed in  §  5.    Most  of  these  shortenings  took  place 
in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  in  the  border 
period  between  O.  E.  and  M.  E.     At  any  rate,  the 
shortening  of  O.  E.  a,  ce  to  a  was  earlier  than  the 
change  of  a  to  q,  or  of  ce  to  g.     This  accounts  for 
O.  E.   hdlig,    M.  E.    hijlig,    versus   O.  E.    hdlgian, 
M.  E.  h&lwe,  Mn.  E.  hallow.     See  §  8.  1. 


DIPHTHONGING.  47 

3.  Next  was  the  change  of  a  to  Q.     See  §  10. 
This  took  place  in  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

4.  Next  was  the  lengthening  of  a,  e,  o  in  open 
syllables.    See  §  4.    The  change  was  not  earlier  than 
the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.     Certainly 
the  a  could  not  have  been  lengthened  before  a  became 
Q  ;  since  in  that  case  we  should  have  had  an  Mn.  E. 
verb  */ore,  instead  of  the  peculiar  fare  [/fr]  which 
is  discussed  in  §  11  and  which  must  be  the  lengthen- 
ing of  some  peculiar  a  or  ce. 

5.  Still  later — in  the  main,  at  least — are  the  diph- 
thongings  discussed  in    §  15.     It  is  impossible   to 
determine  accurately   the  sequence  in   which  these 
various  diphthongings  took  place.     Some  of  them  are 
very  early ;  notably  the  diphthonging  of  e  and  ce, 
a  before  g.     This  is  very  early  M.  E.  and  even  late 
O.  E.    In  general  the  diphthonging  tendency  was  at 
work  all  through  the  M.  E.  period. 

6.  The  change  of  e  (close)  to  [£].    This  took  place 
in  the  fifteenth  century.     See  §  9. 

7.  The  change  of  o  (close)  to  oo  [u] ;  also  in  the 
fifteenth  century.     See  §  12. 

8.  The  diphthonging  of  I,    y   to   [at].     In   the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.     See  §  14. 

9.  The  diphthonging  of  u  to  [aw] .      In  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries.     See  §  14. 


48 


VOWEL  CHANGES. 


10.  The  change  of  g  (open)  to  [t] .     In  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries.     See  §  9. 

11.  The  changes  before  I  and  r.    See  §  16.    These 
can  not  be  dated  with  accuracy  ;  certainly  they  were 
later  than  Chaucer.      Probably  they  were  not  simul- 
taneous but  scattered  through  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries.     Some  were  of  the  seventeenth. 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  PRINCIPAL  VOWEL 
CHANGES. 


9TH-10TH  C. 

11TH-12TH  C. 

13TH  C. 

1st  half  2dhalf. 

14TH  C. 

Early 
Lengthening  : 
a,  e,  i  -f-  Id, 
i,  u,  y  +  nd, 
i,  a  +  mb, 
§3. 

Early 
Shortening  : 
in  compounds, 
before  suffixes, 
before  cons, 
groups, 

a 
to 

Q 
§  10. 

Length- 
ening 
of 
a,  e,  o 
in  open 
syll., 
§4. 

Period 
of 
Chaucer, 
Gower, 
Church 
Plays  ; 
no  marked 

§  5- 

changes. 

15TH  C. 

16TH  C. 

17TH  C. 

18TH  C. 

e  to  1,  §  9, 

i,  y 

M  to  [au] 

Spread 

o  to  «,  §  12, 

to 

§14. 

of  the 

a  to  g  in  open 

[at'], 

gtop] 

9 

syllable, 
§11. 

§  14. 

§9. 

sound, 
§  15  B  8, 

§6. 

CHAPTER  III. 
CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

In  general  the  consonant  system  of  O.  E.  remained 
through  M.  E.  and  into  Mn.  E.  That  is  to  say,  a 
consonant  has  usually  in  Mn.  E.  the  sound  which  it 
had  in  0.  E. 

There  are,  however,  two  groups  of  changes.  In 
the  first  group  is  placed  the  loss  or  on  the  other  hand 
the  intrusion  of  a  consonant.  With  this  phenomenon 
we  may  consider,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  the 
phenomenon  of  voicing  a  consonant  originally  un- 
voiced, and  some  other  changes. 

The  second  group  comprises  the  changes  involved 
in  the  palatalization  of  c  [Jt]  into  ch  [£[]  and  g  into 


Loss  AND  INTRUSION  ;   VOICING,  &c. 

§18. 

1.  a.  The  initial  hi-,  hr-,  hn-  of  O.  E.  became  in 
M.  E.  1-,  r-,  n-.  This  dropping  of  the  h  began  about 
1000  and  was  complete  by  the  middle  of  the  four- 
tenth  century.  Thus  we  get  : 

49 


50  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  hldf  Mn.  E.  loaf, 

hleapan  leap, 

hrof  roof, 

hrcefn  raven, 

hnecca  neck, 

hnutu  nut. 

O.  E.  hw-  is  written  wh-  in  M.  E.  and  in  Mn.  E., 
but  the  sound  is  still  hw-,  at  least  in  America  ;  in 
England  the  usual  pronunciation  is  w-.  Thus  the 
Englishman  usually  confounds 

whales     and     Wales, 
while  wile, 

which  witch. 

O.  E.  hwd,  now  written  who,  is  pronounced  [hu] . 
See  §  10. 

O.  E.  hdl  is  now  written  whole  (the  writing  dates 
from  the  sixteenth  century)  but  the  w  is  not  sounded. 

In  the  extreme  Northern  (Scottish)  dialect  hw-  is 
written  qu-,  quh-  ;  the  pronunciation  is  [x^],  the  x 
having  the  value  of  the  German  ch  in  auch. 

b.  O.  E.  en-,  gn-.  Both  c  and  g  are  silent  in 
Mn.  E.  en-,  however,  was  still  pronounced  di- 
late in  the  seventeenth  century  ;  gn-  retained  the 
gr-sound  during  the  sixteenth  century,  but  lost  it 
early  in  the  seventeenth. 


LOSS  AND  INTRUSION:  VOICING.  51 

c.    In  final  -mb  the  b  is  silent  ;  e.  g.,  climb,  comb. 

2.  -s.  Final  s,  in  such  words  as  is,  his,  as,  was, 
was  still  s  in  Chaucer's  speech,  although  it  had  the 
sound  of  [z]  in  the  Southern  dialect.  The  sound  of 
[z]  became  general  in  the  fifteenth  century,  although 
in  the  sixteenth  the  -s  sound  survived  when  followed 
by  a  word  beginning  with  s  or  sh. 

In  goose,  mouse,  us,  hence,  thence,  the  s  sound 
remains. 

The  -s  in  the  plural  of  nouns  and  in  the  3d  sing. 
of  verbs  remains  s  when  preceded  by  an  unvoiced 
consonant,  but  has  acquired  the  [z]  sound  when  pre- 
ceded by  a  vowel,  by  a  consonant  not  spoken  although 
written,  or  by  a  voiced  consonant.  Compare  : 

days  with  lips 

bows  hats 

bougJis  backs 

sighs  sights 

In  French  words  intervocalic  s  has  the  sound  of  z. 
For  example,  poison,  cousin,  reason.  But  where  the 
word  is  written  -ce-,  the  s  sound  remains  ;  as  in  face, 
grace.  (For  the  g  sound,  see  §  11.) 

In  many  word-couplets  the  difference  between  s 
and  \z\  marks  the  distinction  between  noun  and 
verb.  Thus : 


52  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

Noun.  Verb. 

excuse  excuse. 

use  use  (but  use   'to  be  in 

habit  of,'  with  s). 

grease  grease ;  [s]  is  also  heard. 

house  house. 

glass  glaze. 

grass  graze. 

3.  In  certain  circumstances  the  [s]  sound  has 
become  J.  The  phenomenon  is  chiefly  noticeable  in 
Lathi-French  words  ending  in  -tion,  -tient.  As  long 
as  these  words  were  spoken  with  the  French  accent 
on  the  -on,  -ent,  the  t  was  pronounced  s,  as  in  Chau- 
cer. For  example  : 

patient        pron.     pa-si-ent. 
salvation  salva-si-oun. 

When,  however,  at  the  end  of  or  soon  after  the 
Chaucerian  period,  the  accent  was  wholly  removed 
from  the  termination,  the  [s\  went  over  to  [J]  : 

pg\9nt  salvffin  (f,  see  §  11). 

Note  further  the  change  of  the  s-sound  to  [  J  ]  in 
cherish,  perish,  nourish,  &c.  Chaucer  still  rimes 
cherice,  [s] ,  with  vice.  Also  note  the  change  of  the 
2-sound  to  [z h\  in  leisure,  pleasure,  treasure,  dzure, 
&c.,  originally  accented  plezure,  azure,  &c. 


LOSS  AND  INTRUSION  ;  VOICING.  53 

In  question,   combustion,  &c.,  the  st  has  become 

M3- 

4.  The  ch  sound  [<J],  whether  developed  from  k 
in  English  words  according  to  the  palatalizing  process 
discussed  in  §  19  or  borrowed  from  the  French,  has 
frequently  gone  over  to  thejf  sound  [df].  Thus  : 

M.  E.  cndwleche  Mn.  E.  knowledge 

pertriche  (Fr.)  partridge. 

cabbache  (Fr.  dial.)  cabbage. 

Cartridge,  from  Fr.  cartouche,  is  found  only  in  Mn.  E. 
Sausage,  from  Fr.  saucisse,  is  hard  to  explain. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  these  words  the  ch,  j 
sound  is  in  a  syllable  which  has  ceased  to  be  stressed. 
There  are  some  words,  however,  in  which  the  ch  of 
a  stressed  syllable  has  become  [dj].  Thus  : 


O.  E.  on  cer     M.  E.  on  cher,  char     Mn.  E.  ajar. 

On  cer  means  'on  the  turn.'  It  is  to  be  noted  that 
we  pronounce  char  woman,  a  woman  hired  not  regu- 
larly but  for  some  special  turn  of  work. 

O.  E.  ceaft    M.  E.  chavel,  chaul    Mn.  E.  jowl. 

The  etymology  of  jaw,  chaw  is  obscure. 

5.    Intrusion    of   a   consonant.      Some    of  these 
changes  are  M.  E.  ;  others  are  Mn.  E. 


54  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

a.    A  p  is  inserted  between  m  and  t.    For  example : 
O.  E.  cemtig     M.  E.  empti    Mn.  E.  empty. 

In  this  word  the  p  is  both  sounded  and  written.  In 
many  Mn.  E.  words  the  p  is  sounded  but  not  written, 
as  in  dream' t.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  form 
drempte  occurs  six  times  in  the  M.  E.  poem  of  Genesis 
and  Exodus  (thirteenth  century) ;  also  the  form 
dempt,  p.  p.  of  demen  'to  judge'  occurs  once.  The  p 
survives  in  the  name  Dempster,  but  not  in  the  com- 
mon noun  deemster.  In  like  manner  the  Fr.  som- 
metier  has  developed  into  Mn.  E.  sumpter. 

In  M.  E.  a  p  was  inserted  between  m  and  n,  as  in 
Chaucer's  Sompnour  (Fr.  somenour),  dampned  (Fr. 
damne),  solempne  (solenne),  nempnen  (O.  E.  nem- 
Twm).  These  forms  have  not  been  retained  in  Mn.  E. 

b.  A  b  sound  has  been  developed  between  m  and 
r,  as  in  Mn.  E.  slumber,  O.  E.   slumerian  (Germ. 
schlummerri).      In    Mn.  E.    thumb,     O.  E.    ftuma 
(Germ,  daumeri),  the  b  has  become  silent  inMn.  E. ; 
but  is  still  spoken  in  thimble,  O.  E.  ftymel. 

c.  A  d  sound  has  been  developed  between  n  and 
r,  as  in  Mn.  E.  thunder,  O.  E.  ftunor  (Germ.  Don- 
Tier).     In  kindred,  O.  E.  cynrceden,  M.  E.  cunrede, 
the  intrusive  d  is  Mn.  E. 

d.  An  r  has  been  developed  in  certain  Fr.  words, 


LOSS  AND  INTRUSION;  VOICING.  55 

for  example  :  philosopher  (Fr.  philosophe),  lavender 
(plant-name);  and  an  I  in  principle  (Fr.  principe). 

O.  E.  has,  late  M.  E.  hqrs,  is  Mn.  E.  hoarse 
(compare  Germ.  heis-er~).  Also  O.  E.  brydguma, 
M.  E.  brldgume,  is  Mn.  E.  bridegroom. 

In  Mn.  E.  we  find  the  following  intrusive  con- 
sonants : 

e.  A  t  after  s  in  such  forms  as 

M.  E.  againes  Mn.  E.  against. 

in  middes  amidst,  midst. 

whiles  whilst. 

betwix  betwixt. 

O.  E.  hces  behest. 

In  the  vulgar  onst,  oneet  the  same  tendency  has  not 
been  recognized  in  the  standard  speech. 
O.  E.  anefen  is  Mn.  E.  anent. 

f.  A  d  after  n. 

M.  E.  boun         (Icel.    btiinri)     Mn.  E.  bound 

(ready  to  go  ;  see  busk,  §  19  A). 
Ignen        (O.  E.  Icenan)  lend, 

rounen      (O.  E.  runiari)  round 

(to  whisper). 
hlne         (O.  E.  hina*)  ?  hind 

(servant). 
sounen      (Fr.  suner)  sound. 


56  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

But  in  swoon,    swoun  (M.  E.  swoyneri)  and  drown 
(M.  E.  drunen,  droune')  the  d  has  not  been  accepted 
in  standard  speech. 
Also  a  d  between  n  and  /. 

M.  E.    spinel  Mn.  E.  spindle. 

(O.  E.  dwlnari)  ?  Mn.  E.  dwindle. 

PALATALIZATION. 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  most  puzzling  feature  in 
the  development  of  English  speech.  The  study  will 
become  somewhat  easier : 

1.  If  we  distinguish  carefully  between  Ic  and  g. 
Both  consonants  have  been  palatalized,  but  in  differ- 
ent ways. 

2.  If  we  recognize  the  fact  that  palatalization  was 
essentially  and  originally  a  process  of  the  Southern 
dialect,  that  it  extended  to  and  affected  the  Midland 
dialect  but  not  universally,  and  that  it  never  affected 
the  extreme  Northern  dialect.     Inasmuch  as  standard 
Mn.  E.  is  a  development  of  Midland,  the  k  and  g 
are   palatalized   to  the   extent  to  which  they   were 
palatalized   in   Midland.      According  as    the   Mid- 
land dialect  of  M.  E.  was  under  the  influence  of  the 
Southern,  we  get  palatalized  forms  ;  according  as  it 
leaned   to   the  Northern   dialect,  we   get  k  and   g 
unpalatalized. 


PALATALIZATION.  57 

Palatalization  of  Jc. 
§19. 

O.  E.  k  was  a  genuine  stop  and  not  a  spirant.  It 
acquired  a  strong  palatalizing  tendency,  however, 
very  early  ;  in  fact  the  language  was  beginning  to 
speak  Jc  even  before  it  had  left  its  home  on  the  Conti- 
nent, that  is,  before  it  was  introduced  into  England. 

A,  sk.  Initial  sk-  was  turned  into  [s^]  in  early 
O.  E.,  and  into  the  sh  [  J]  sound  in  late  O.  E.  For 
example  : 

O.  E.  scip  Mn.  E.  ship. 

sc(e)arait  shame. 

sc(e)al  shall. 

sc(e)arp  sharp, 

scene  sheen. 

sc(e)ort  short, 

scyttan  shut, 

scrincan  shrink, 

scrud  shroud. 

This  conversion  of  initial  sc~  to  sh-  is  so  regular  that 
when  we  find  a  Mn.  E.  word  spoken  with  initial  sk 
we  assume  that  it  is  a  loan-word.  Thus  :  sky,  skin, 
skirt,  skulk,  scum  are  borrowed  from  Danish.  The 
origin  of  skull  is  unknown,  it  is  not  found  in  O.  E. 
Scotch,  Scottish  are  probably  a  survival  of  the  Keltic 


58  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

or  Kelto-Latin  sk-  initial ;  skipper  is  Dutch ;  skirmish 
isthe  French  (e^scarmouche,  scorn  is  the  Fr.  (e~)scarn ; 
school  is  the  Latin  schtila  with  the  medieval  long 
vowel  (sclidla). 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  doublets.     Thus  : 

ship  (O.  E.  scip~)       vs.      skipper  (Dutch). 
shirt  (0.  E.  scyrte)  skirt  (Dan.  skyrta'). 

Final  -sk  presents  some  difficulties.     Usually  it  has 
become  -sh.     Thus  : 

O.  E.  disc  (Latin  discus)  M.  E.  dish, 
fisc  fish, 

flcesc  flesh, 

fersc  fresh. 

But  when  -sk-  was  followed  by  a  syllable  containing 
a  guttural  vowel,  the  syllabication  was  -s-k,  unpa- 
latalized.  For  example : 

O.  E.  askian  Mn.  E.  ask. 

(Here  the  -ian  is  guttural,  see  B. ) 

In  some  words  the  s  and  k  were  metathesized  before 
the  palatalization  became  fixed  ;  in  such  words  we 
get  x,  ks.  Thus : 

( asce  ashe(s\ 

O.  E.  < 

(.  acse  oxen  (dialect). 

miscan,  *micsan       mix. 


PALATALIZATION.  59 

0.  E.  wascan  '  lavare '  should  have  yielded  M.  E. 
*wasken,  Mn.  E.  *wax.  In  fact  we  do  find  an  O.  E. 
waxan  ;  but  in  M.  E.  and  Mn.  E.  we  find  only  sh 
forms. 

Bask  and  busk  are  Scandinavian  words.  Bask  is 
Icelandic  baftask  (bcffia  #ik~)  'to  bathe  one's  self.' 
Buslc  is  Icelandic  buask  (bua  die)  'to  prepare  one's 
self,  be  ready.'  Compare  bound,  Icelandic  buinn 
(§  18.  5.  /).  Husk  is  still  unexplained  ;  probably 
it  is  Low  German  hus(i}ke(n), 

B.  Palatalization  before  -i,  -i.  Here  should  be 
borne  carefully  in  mind  : 

1.  That  the  i,  i,  if  it  appears  at  all  in  O.  E., 
appears  as  an  -e  ;  only  in  the  oldest  texts  do  we  find 
an  occasional  -i.     See  Sievers,  §  44. 

2.  That  -i  merely  palatalizes  the  c  (&);  whereas 
j  both  palatalizes  and  geminates.     The  -i,  however, 
becomes  -i  after  a  long  stem  (that  is,  a  stem  contain- 
ing an  original  long  vowel  or  a  short  vowel  before 
two  consonants ;  see  Sievers,  §  45.  8).    For  example, 
*banki  became  benc  'bench'  ;  ftakyzn  (short  stem) 
became  fteccan  (with  gemination)   '  to  thatch '  ;  but 
*taikion,   *takion    (long  stem)    became  tcecan    'to 
teach. ' 

The  difference  between  i  and  i  will  explain  the 
numerous  -c-  and  -cc-  verbs  of  the  first  weak  class. 


60  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

Examples  of  Palatalizing  before  i,  $. 

O.  E.  cycen  (Latin  coquina)  Mn.  E.  kitchen, 

cidan  chide, 

cinn  chin, 

bece  (*bokion,  long  stem)  beech, 

drencan  (*drankion,  long  stem)  drench, 

streccan  (*strakion,  short  stem)  stretch. 

Caution.  The  student  must  be  on  his  guard  against 
a  misapprehension.  There  are  in  O.  E.  many  infini- 
tives (the  2d  class  weak)  ending  in  -ian.  This  -ian, 
however,  is  not  a  palatal  i  but  is  merely  the  reduced 
form  of  an  older  and  fuller  -oian,  a  guttural,  which 
does  not  palatalize  the  k.  For  example  : 

0.  E.  locian        M.  E.  lokien      Mn.  E.  look. 

ftoncian  fianlcien  thank, 

lician  liken  like, 

liccian  licken  lick. 

Most  of  the  Mn.  E.  verb-forms  in  -k  or  -ck  come 
from  these  O.  E.  -ian  verbs. 

C.    Before  other  palatal  vowels. 

1.  Before  G.  T.  e,  O.  E.  e  or  eo  (broken). 

O.  E.  ceorl  Mn.  E.  churl. 

2.  Before  G.  T.  eu,  O.  E.  eo. 

O.  E.  ceosan  M.  E.  chesen. 


PALATALIZATION.  61 

Also  the  t-umlaut  of  this  diphthong,  O.  E.  w,  I,  y. 
O.  E.  els  (select)  M.  E.  chilse  Mn.  E.  choice. 

The  Mn.  E.  was  formerly  pronounced  [at],  the 
normal  diphthonging  of  [i] ;  the  present  cfiQis  may 
be  due  to  the  noun  choice,  Fr.  choix.  There 
are  similar  double  vernacular  sounds  in  join,  boil, 
&c.  [ai  and  yi] . 

3.  Before  G.  T.  au,  O.  E.  ea. 

O.  E.  cedp   M.  E.  cheap,  chep   Mn.  E.  cheap. 
Also  the  z-umlaut  of  the  diphthong,  O.  E.  w,  I,  y,  g. 
O.E.  cypan,  cepan   M.E.  chgpen    Mn.E.  cheapen. 

4.  Before  G.  T.  a,  appearing  in  O.  E.  as  ea,  or  i- 
Umlauted  to  e,  ie,  y. 

At  this  point,  however,  the  standard  speech  presents 
many  inconsistencies.  These  may  be  explained  by 
assuming  that  the  Midland  speech,  while  in  the  main 
under  the  influence  of  the  Southern  tendency  to 
palatalize,  nevertheless — in  the  districts  towards  the 

North — borrowed  Northern  forms. 

« 

O.  E.  tetil  M.  E.  chetel  (obsolete)  and 

perhaps  proper  name  Chettle. 
(kettle  is  probably  a  Northern  form  bor- 
rowed from  Danish. ) 


62  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  cealc  Mn.  E.  chalk, 

cearu,  earn  care, 

cearig  chary, 

ceaf  chaff, 

ceaf  or  chafer, 

ciele,  cele  chill, 

cealf,  calf  calf. 

Especially  interesting  is  the  treatment  of  the  O.  E. 
ceaster  (Lat.  castra).  In  the  South  and  Midland 
the  pronunciation  is  Chester ;  in  the  North  and 
in  Scotland  it  is  caster.  Compare  Dorchester  with 
Lancaster.  The  curious  pronunciation  -cester  (-sester*) 
seems  to  be  a  Norman  blunder,  giving  to  the  c  a 
French  value. 

D.    After  certain  vowels. 

1.  After  O.  E.  a?. 

This  phenomenon  is  greatly  in  need  of  further 
investigation.  The  Mn.  E.  back  is  O.  E.  bcec,  M.  E. 
bac,  bach,  and  b<xch.  The  pronunciation  batch  is 
found  in  such  names  as  Cumberbatch. 

2.  -ic  in  monosyllables  has  become  -ich  [-i£[] . 

O.  E.  pic  Mn.  E.  pitch, 

die  ditch. 

(Mn.  E.  dike  is  probably  a  Dutch  word. ) 

The  O.  E.  pronoun  ic  became  ich  [t£[]  in  Southern 


PALATALIZATION.  63 

English  ;  this  form  is  frequently  used  in  the  rustic 
speech  of  comic  characters  in  the  Elizabethan  plays, 
especially  in  the  formula  :  ich  ill,  ich  '  II,  for  '  I 
will.'  In  normal  M.  E.  and  standard  Mn.  E.  the 
pronoun  is  regularly  I  [a{] . 

The  terminations  -lie,  -lice  (adj.  and  adv. )  appear  as 
-lich,  -lichein  some  M.  E.  texts,  but  in  most  as  -li ; 
Chaucer  has  both  lich  and  like.  Mn.  E.  has 
regularly  -ly  ;  although  there  are  numerous  -like 
compounds  formed  by  analogy  in  the  modern  lan- 
guage. For  example,  homely  and  homelike. 

The  -lie  has  undergone  great  change  in  the  follow- 
ing words : 

O.  E.  *hmilik,  hwilc      Mn.  E.  which. 
*swalik,  swilc  such. 

*a-%e-lic,  celc  each. 

i 

Intervocalic  k  preceded  by  i  is  sometimes  palatal- 
ized, sometimes  not.  The  palatalization  usually  de- 
pends upon  the  following  vowel  being  a  palatal. 

O.  E.  sicol  sickle, 

cwicu  quick, 

cwice  quitch-grass. 

An  O.  E.  cc  is  palatal  if  the  gemination  is  due  to 
an  i  [&j] ;  if  the  gemination  is  the  result  of  some 
other  consonantal  change,  the  cc  is  —  kk.  Thus  : 


64  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  weccan  (^wakion)   M.  E.  wecchen  (to  arouse 
some  one  ;  compare  Germ,  weekend. 

Whereas  in  the  following  : 

O.  E.  hnecca  Mn.  E.  neck, 

sticca  stick, 

pluccian  pluck. 

the  cc  [=  kk]  is  probably  from  Ten  :  at  all  events  it 
is  not  from  lei. 

Non- Palatalization  of  k. 

The  k  is  not  palatalized  in  the  following  cases  : 

E.  When  it  is  in  combination  with  another  conso- 
nant, as,  cl,  en,  cr,  cw. 

O.  E.  clcene  Mn.  E.  clean, 

clif  cliff, 

cniht  knight, 

cribb  crib, 

curie  quick,  quitch. 

(SeeD.) 

F.  Before  guttural  vowels  and  their  umlauts. 
1.    5,  u. 

O.  E.  col  cool, 

cocc  cock, 

cu  cow. 

cuman  come. 


PALATALIZATION.  65 

2.  e  (oe),  the  t-umlaut  of  o. 

O.  E.  *koni         cene  keen. 

*kopian     cepan  keep. 

Note  the  difference  between  this  last  and  the  palatal 
|,  (i-umlaut  of  ea),  as  in  *keapion,  cepen,  M.  E. 
chepe  ;  see  C.  3. 

3.  ^  (later  writing  i~),  the  i-umlaut  of  it. 

• 

O.  E.  %ecynd  Mn.  E.  kind, 

cyftfi  kith, 

cyn  kin. 

Lat.  coquina  0.  E.  cycen    kitchen;  see  B. 

4.  e,  the  i-umlaut  of  a,  o  before  nasal. 
Lat.  cantium    O.  E.  cenf     Mn.  E.  Kent. 

5.  a,  (G.  T.  ai)  and  its  t-umlaut. 

O.  E.  *kaiyi     cceg          Mn.  E.  key. 

Note  the  difference  between  this  and  the  palatal  £ 
before  the  open  |  or  e  in  0.  3,  4.  For  example  : 
Lat.  cdseum,  O.  E.  *c<Bsi  *ceasi  ciese,  M.  E.  cese, 
Mn.  E.  cheese ;  see  Sievers,  §  75.  2. 

6.  a  which  does  not  become  ce  in  O.  E.     For 
example  : 

O.  E.  cald,  cald,  §  3.  1.          Mn.  E.  cold, 
callian  (Danish  kalla)  call. 


66  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

G.  The  oldest  writing  in  England,  the  Runic, 
used  different  signs  for  palatal  and  non-palatal  k. 
Thus  h  =  k  non-palatal ;  $  =  k  palatal.  Unfortu- 
nately the  old  Runic  inscriptions  are  so  few  that  they 
yield  only  a  very  scanty  vocabulary. 

Some  of  the  older  manuscripts  used  occasionally  k 
before  e,  i,  y  to  mark  the  non-palatal.  Much  more 
frequently  an  e  or  i  was  inserted  between  a  palatal  c 
and  an  a,  o,  u.  For  example:  Sewc(e)cm,  sec(e)cm, 
drencium  (d.  pi.  ofdrenc). 

This  tendency  to  distinguish  the  c  became  stronger 
and  stronger  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries, 
by  writing  c  (—  k  non -palatal)  only  before  a,  o,  u  ; 
Ic  before  e,  i,  y ;  and  cli  to  mark  the  palatal.  After 
1200  (e.  g.  in  the  Ormulum)  the  use  of  ch  for  the 
palatal  became  practically  universal. 

H.  The  k  did  not  immediately  become  the  ch  [t  J] 
sound.  At  first  it  was  pronounced  [ky]  ;  then  [ty]  ; 
last  of  all  [tj] .  For  O.  E.  the  pronunciation  proba- 
bly never  got  beyond  the  2d  stage  [ty] ;  but  in  the 
Ormulum  and  in  M.  E.  generally  the  sound  is  that 
oftheMn.  E.  ch  [fj]. 

The  tendency  to  pronounce  ty  as  p|]  is  inherent 
in  English  and  manifests  itself  in  what  are  called 
modern  vulgarisms.  For  instance,  Tuesday  pro- 
nounced Chiusday.  In  such  words  as  feature  the 


PALATALIZATION.  67 

[if]  is  common  in  American  English  ;  the  N.  E.  D.  , 
however,  gives  the  pronunciation  ty.  Parallel  with 
the  tendency  to  turn  ty  into  [if]  is  the  tendency  to 
turn  dy  into  [dj],  as  in  the  stage  vulgarism  juke 
for  duke. 

The  change  of  s  to  [J]  and  z  to  zh,  discussed  in 
§  18.  3,  may  also  be  treated  as  a  case  of  palataliza- 
tion. In  all  the  words  there  mentioned  the  French 
vowel  i  after  the  consonant  became  y  in  consequence 
of  the  fixing  of  the  strong  English  accent  on  the 
preceding  syllable. 

Levelling. 

I.  The  O.  E.  paradigm,  especially  of  the  verb,  pre- 
sented many  striking  contrasts  now  obliterated  by 
levelling.  For  example  : 

ceosan[ty]     ceos[ty]     etmw[k]     coren[k]. 


In  infinitive  and  pret.  sing,  we  have  the  palatalized 
[ky,  ty~\,  but  in  the  pret.  pi.  and  participle  we  have 
the  original  k.  Further,  the  s  has  become  r  in  pret. 
pi.  and  pret.  part.  M.  E.  h°.d  an  infinitive  chesen, 
which  goes  back  to  ceosan.  The  Mn.  E.  infin.  choose 
seems  to  go  back  to  ceosan  accented  ceosan  ;  this 
accenting  of  the  diphthong  [eo]  is  Danish  rather 


68  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

than  English.     The   Mn.  E.    verb   has   introduced 
throughout  the  [£[]  ;  also  the  s  for  r. 

Just  the  opposite  has  happened  in  the  verb  : 

ceorfan         cearf        curfon        corfen 

M.  E.  and  Mn.  E.  have  only  the  k  sound.  Besides, 
the  verb  has  become  weak  in  Mn.  E.  carve,  carved  ; 
carf  and  corven,  however,  are  found  in  Chaucer. 
Whereas  O.  E.  ceowan  ceaw  cuwon  cowen  has  intro- 
duced the  [<J]  throughout  and  is  conjugated  weak. 
In  general,  wherever  in  Mn.  E.  we  find  palatal 
forms  where  we  might  expect  guttural,  and  vice  versa, 
we  may  assume  either  a  levelling  in  the  paradigm,  or 
a  Midland  mixture  of  Southern  and  extreme  Northern 
forms,  as  in  be-seech  seek,  or  a  borrowing,  as  in  kit 
(Low  German),  Hit  (Scandinavian). 

Palatalization  of  g. 

§20. 

A.  With  two  exceptions,  for  which  see  D,  there 
was  not  in  O.  E.  a  voiced  stop  g  corresponding  to  the 
unvoiced  stop  k.  The  O.  E.  5  seldom  had  the  value 
of  the  g  in  Mn.  E.  good,  gate,  gum.  The  single  5 
designated  a  voiced  spirant,  that  is,  a  sound  like  the 
Mn.  German  cli  but  voiced.  And,  like  the  German 
eh,  it  had  two  qualities,  a  guttural  and  a  palatal. 


PALATALIZATION.  69 

The  5  was  guttural  when  in  combination  with  another 
consonant,  as  in  ^Iced,  %rafan,  ^na^an  ;  or  before  a 
guttural  vowel,  d,  o,  u,  y  (t-umlaut  of  u),  e 
(i-umlaut  of  o),  as  in  gdi,  %os,  jwma,  -&es.  It  was 
palatal  before  a  palatal  vowel,  as  I,  e,  y  (=torte). 
It  was  also  palatal  when  it  stood  at  the  end  of  a 
word  immediately  after  a  palatal  vowel,  as  in  O.  E. 
he&  '  hay, '  bodi^  '  body ' ;  see  §  7.  Intervocalic  3 
following  a  palatal  and  preceding  a  guttural  vowel 
was  guttural  in  the  early  stage  of  the  language,  as 
in  bea^um,  d.  pi.  of  hta^  ;  the  syllabication  being 
apparently  bea-^um.  In  later  O.  E.,  however,  the 
5  in  such  circumstances  became  palatal. 

The  Greek  y  has  been  used  by  some  philologists 
to  mark  the  guttural  spirant  ;  the  3  being  retained 
for  the  palatal. 

Concerning  the  pronunciation  of  3  palatal  and 
guttural,  it  may  be  said  that : 

1.  The  palatal  5  was  not  unlike  the  Mn.  E.  y  in 
such  words   as    yea,   only    thickened  and   buzzed ; 
it  must  have  resembled  the  g  in  the  Berlin  pronun- 
ciation of  geben,  gabe,  Gott. 

2.  The  guttural  y  must  have  been  an  extremely 
rasping  sound  spoken  deep  in  the  throat,  with  the 
vocal  chords  very  tense.     The  modern  Anglo-Ameri- 
can throat  is  wholly  unable  to  make  the  sound  ;  it 


70  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

may  still  be  heard,  however,  in  certain  North  Ger- 
man dialects  and  in  Keltic  speech. 

The  two  sounds  are  found  side  by  side  in  the  same 
paradigm.  For  example  : 

•&eotan  ^eat    yuton   yoten    '  to  pour,  giessen. ' 

(Compare  the  paradigm  of  ceosan,  §  19.  I.) 
Where  the  palatal  j  has  remained  in  M.  E.  it  is 
written  with  a  y. 

O.  E.  gear,  %er  Mn.  E.  year. 
Zernan,  pieman  yearn. 

•&ellan,  -giellan  yell. 

%eldan,  $ieldan  yield. 

IfiZ  ivy. 

For  exceptions  see  F. 

B.  The  y  never  became  a  stop  (like  the  modern 
g  in  good}  in  the  O.  E.  period  ;  the  change  took 
place  in  early  M.  E.  The  first  text  to  mark  unmis- 
takably the  difference  between  the  guttural  spirant 
and  the  guttural  stop  is  the  Ormulum  (1200).  Orm 
used  the  sign  tj  for  the  stop,  %h  for  the  guttural 
spirant  [y] ,  and  5  for  the  palatal  spirant. 

In  the  course  of  the  twelfth  century  y  became  the 
stop  [</]  when  in  combination  with  other  consonants 

V  W  V          %< 

or  at  the   beginning  of  a  word  before   a,  5,  u,  y 


PALATALIZATION.  71 

(i-umlaut  of  u),  e  (t-umlaut  of  o).     For  example  : 
—  glad,  %od  —  God,  jos  —  goose,  %es  —  geese. 


At  the  end  of  a  word,  especially  after  r,  the  gut- 
tural spirant  tended  to  become  the  unvoiced  guttural 
spirant  h  (=  German  ch  in  ach,  buch~).  This 
tendency  manifests  itself  in  such  O.  E.  forms  as 
bo^h,  slo^h,  kna^k,  burh^. 

The  intervocalic  y  became  in  M.  E.  a  w  sound. 
This  w  sound  exerted  a  peculiar  diphthonging  effect 
on  the  preceding  vowel;  see  §  15.  A.  For  exam- 
ple: boya,  'bow';  c?cej,  'day',  but  dayas,  'daws;' 
dayenian,  '  dawn.  '  The  conversion  of  y  to  w  became 
so  normal  that  the  original  signs  for  the  sounds  were 
sometimes  confused  in  writing.  For  example,  in  the 
fourteenth-century  poem  called  Patience,  verse  67, 
soghe  is  written  for  the  imperative  of  sow  '  dissemi- 
nate,' O.  E.  sdwan. 

C.    In  §  19.  B,  it  was  said  that  k  was  palatalized 

v 

to  k,  c  and  eventually  to  ch  [£f]  before  j  and  i.  In 
treating  y  we  must  discriminate  between  i  and  i. 
The  i  alone  has  the  property  of  fully  palatalizing 
and  geminating  the  y  to  cj.  The  i  merely  turned  the 
guttural  spirant  into  a  palatal  spirant  (partial  pala- 
talization). For  example,  compare  : 


72  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

O.  E.  *bruyia,  bryc%  Mn.  E.  bridge. 
*waywn,  toecj  wedge. 

with         *ruyis,  ry&e  rye  (grain). 

*luyis,  ly&e  lie  'falsehood.' 

This  general  distinction  between  i  and  i  is  not 
difficult  to  apprehend  ;  but  it  is  very  difficult  to 
apply,  for  the  reason  that  in  order  to  know  whether 
the  5  was  followed  by  an  i  or  a  i  we  must  reconstruct 
the  O.  E.  paradigm  according  to  the  most  general 
principles  of  G.  T.  philology.  Such  reconstruction 
is  occasionally  needed  in  the  declension  of  nouns  and 
adjectives,  but  not  often  ;  the  chief  field  for  recon- 
struction is  the  verb. 

The  determining  principles  of  G.  T.  philology  in 
this  matter  are : 

1.  After  a   long   stem    (see    §  19.   B.   2)    the  i 
becomes   i    under    all    circumstances;   see  Sievers, 
§  45.  8.     For  example,  *beayion,  bie&an,  be%an,  'to 
bend.' 

2.  After  a  short  stem  the  i  : 

a.  Remains  before  a  termination  beginning  with 
a  guttural  vowel  (d,  o,  w). 

b.  Becomes  i  before  a  termination  beginning  with 
a  consonant  (usually  rf). 

c.  Disappears  before,  or  rather  is  absorbed  in,  a 
termination  beginning  with  the  palatal  vowel  i. 


PALATALIZATION.  73 

These  several  features  are  best  illustrated  by  the 
reconstructed  paradigm  of  a  verb  of  the  first  weak 
class,  lee&ean  (  to  lay.  ' 


Infin.  *layion  lec%(e^a,n  (full  pal.) 

Ind.  pres.  s.  */ayjo,  *layiu  lec&e  (full  pal.  ) 

*layiis,  *layis  le%is  (part,  pal.) 

*£aywt5,  *layifi  legift  (part.  pal.  ) 

pi.     *layion$,  *layia$  feej(e)at>  (full  pal.  ) 

Ind.  pret.  *layida,  *layida  le^i~)de  (part,  pal.) 


Compare  also,  for  the  noun-formation  : 

O.  E.  *Jiayis,  he%e,  Mn.  E.  hay, 

O.  E.  *hayia,  hedge,  Mn.  E.  hedge. 

The  O.E.  paradigm  of  /ec;$(e)<m,  like  the  paradigm 
of  ceosan  and  ceorfan  in  §  19.  I,  contained  dual  con- 
sonants :  the  eg,  an  incipient  j  [d\~\  sound,  and  the 
half  -palatalized  5,  which  in  later  English  became  a 
[?/]  sound.  This  dualism,  like  that  in  §  19.  I,  has 
been  removed  by  levelling.  The  forms  with  5  en- 
croached upon  and  supplanted  the  cj  [dj]  forms. 
The  levelling  began  in  the  Midland  dialect  of  Early 
M.  E.  and  has  passed  into  standard  Mn.  E.  It 
should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Southern  dialect 
of  M.  E.  retained  the  dualism  of  cj,  5  quite  late. 
Thus  the  Kentish  dialect  continued  to  say  :  infin. 


74  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

leggen  [df],  ich  legge,  he  letif) ;  we  legge  ;  pret.  he 
le%de,  leide.  The  paradigm  of  see&ean  'to  say'  offers 
the  same  variety.  Note  the  many  ligg-  forms  [eZJ] 
(O.E.  lic£(e)an  'to  lie')  in  Chaucer  ;  alsoseggen  we 
'  we  say,'  Tr.  and  Cr.,  iv,  194.  The  Mn.  E.  spell- 
ing to  lay,  I  lay  ;  to  say,  I  say  ;  laid,  said  is  due  to 
the  tendency  to  prefer  the  writing  ai,  ay  to  ei,  ey. 

D.  In  A  it  was  said  that  there  were  two  excep- 
tions to  the  rule  that  O.  E.  had  no  genuine  stop  g 
sound. 

1).  The  first  exception  consists  of  a  small  group 
of  words,  mostly  nouns,  usually  written  with  55  but 
sometimes  with  05  or  jc,  in  which  the  pronunciation 
was  that  of  the  Mn.  E.  g  in  good.  These  words  are 
do&a  'dog,'  fro&a  'frog,'  clu&e  'bell,  clock,'  su^a, 
a  bird-name,  (hey-sugge  in  Chaucer  is  a  sparrow), 
eamme&a  'earwig,'  flo-g&ettan  'to  fluctuate  '  and  one 
or  two  more  ;  see  Sievers,  §  216.  2.  In  these 
words  the  gemination  is  due  not  to  a  following  i,  but 
to  a  following  n.  See  the  remarks  on  kk,  §  19,  D.  2. 

2).  In  the  O.  E.  combination  ng  the  g  was  a 
genuine  stop  ;  see  Sievers,  §  215.  The  O.  E. 
pronunciation  was  probably  [rj#]  as  in  finger,  not  the 
Mn.  E.  simple  [rj] ,  as  in  singer.  Thus  the  O.  E.  infini- 
tives were  pronounced  siq-gan,  mrj-jraw,  &c.,  and 
the  stop  g,  unlike  the  spirant  y,  5,  was  fully  palatal- 


PALATALIZATION.  75 

ized  by  i  no  less  than  by  i.  For  example,  the  deriva- 
tive verbs,  first  weak  class,  *sat)-glon,  ^crat)-gion  gave 
rise  to  M.  E.  senge,  crenge  [<7=df] .  For  the  Mn.  E. 
i  in  place  of  e  in  singe,  cringe,  see  §  13. 

E.  In  A  it  was  said  that  the  O.  E.  5  before  a 
palatal  vowel  (e,  i)  was  half  palatalized  and  became 
in  Mn.  E.  a  y,  as  in  %er,  year. 

There  is  a  group  of  exceptions,  namely,  a  few  very 
common  words  which  have  in  Mn.  E.  g  instead  of  y. 
They  are:  get  (O. E.  jefcm),  give  (O.  E.  ge/an),  gift 
(O.E.  -gift},  again  (O.  E.  on^e^n),  guest  (O.  E.  %est ; 
the  spelling  with  ue  is  in  imitation  of  French). 

The  usual  explanation  is  to  say  that  the  g  is  due 
to  Danish  influence,  the  original  G.  T.  5,  whether 
guttural  or  palatal,  becoming  stop-^  in  all  Scandina- 
vian speech.  To  this  view  it  may  be  objected  that 
the  words  in  question  are  among  the  commonest  in 
our  language,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  very  cogent 
reason  why  Englishmen  in  the  M.  E.  period  should 
have  changed  the  pronunciation  of  such  every-day 
words.  Further,  the  spelling  in  the  Ormulum  fails 
to  bear  out  the  Danish  theory.  The  Ormulum  being 
that  early  M.  E.  document  which  shows  the  most 
extensive  Danish  influence,  so  extensive  in  fact  as 
to  call  for  special  investigation,  we  should  expect  to 
find  these  words  written  regularly  with  a  g  (Orm's 


76  CONSONANT  CHANGES. 

31).  Yet  this  is  precisely  what  we  do  not  find.  Orm 
uses  much  more  frequently  in  these  words  5  than  g ; 
sometimes  he  vacillates  between  the  two  signs.  In 
one  word  only  do  we  find  g  (g)  exclusively.  This  is 
the  word  gesst.  As  examples  of  vacillation  we  may 
note  giferr,  giferr  (O.  E.  %ifre  'greedy),  geggii  and 
onn-%cen.  Further  we  find  regularly  %ifenn,  %ife 
('gift'),  %etenn.  We  find  even  "goten,  p.  p.  of^eotan 
'  to  pour, '  although  this  should  have  been  goten ; 
see  A.  2. 

Especially  significant  are  the  two  words  %ate  and 
gate  in  the  Ormulum.  The  former  is  the  O.  E. 
•&eatu  'gate,  opening,'  and  is  a  genuine  English  semi- 
palatal  ;  the  other  is  an  equally  genuine  Danish 
word  and  borrowed  with  an  unmistakable  Danish 
meaning,  Icelandic  gata,  our  Mn.  E.  gait.  Both 
words  have  now  g. 

The  evidence,  then,  goes  to  show  that  Orm,  whose 
language  is  so  highly  colored  with  Danicisms,  does 
not  systematically  turn  initial  English  5  into  Danish  g. 

F.  Concerning  the  stages  of  development  in  the 
cj,  (full  palatalization  of  jj  as  treated  in  C),  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  it  was  parallel  with  the  change  of  Tc ; 
see  §  19.  H.  That  is,  cj  represents  first  a  [gy] 
sound,  then  a  [dy\  sound,  and  last  a  j  [df] .  In  the 
O.  E.  period  the  sound  did  not  get  beyond  the  [dy] 


PALATALIZATION.  77 

stage.  The  [c?J]  is  early  M.  E. ;  in  the  Ormulum 
the  pronunciation  is  already  [dj] .  This  is  shown  by 
Onn's  use  of  the  peculiar  letter  g  in  such  words  as 
legmen  (O.  E.  lec&an),  biggen  (O.  E.  byc^an  'buy') 
and  in  the  French  or  Latin-French  words  gyw 
(engin,  'device,  machine'),  Egippte,  ma<gy  (French 
mage,  Latin  magi").  This  letter  g,  if  not  actually 
invented  by  Orm,  was  clearly  used  by  him  to  mark 
the  [d[]  sound,  whether  of  French  or  of  English 
origin. 


INDEX. 


[The  references  are  to  pages ;  g,  7,  5,  g ,  o,  are  entered  as 
one  letter ;  CB  is  entered  as  a  +  e  ;  J>,  $,  as  t  +  A.  ] 


above,  abufan  32 
accent,  see  stress 
ach  (German)  71 
ocse  58 
(Kff&er  35,  37 
ci/c63 
^lf  ric  9 
cemc«22 
cemtig  54 


ordlO 

oerende  15 

again  75 

againes,  against  55 

dgan  39 

age  30 

ah,  ahte  41 

ajar  53 

aid  7,  28 

all,  alle  44 

American  29,  44,  45,  50,  67 

amidst  55 

a?i  28 

-an  (infin. )  9 

anefen,  anent  55 

anig  21 

ant  22 

any  21 


ardlO 
are  12,  28 
as  51 

osce,  ashes  58 
ask,  askian  58 
atone  28 
oxen  58 
Ayenbite  34 
azure  52 

bac,  bach,  back  62 

backs  51 

bcec,  beech  62 

bald,  'bold'  44 

bald,  balled  ( '  thin  haired ' ) 

44 

*banki 59 
bard  '  beard '  10 
bark  (of  tree),  bark  (ship), 

bark  (of  dog)  45 
bask  59 
batch  62 
boSask  59 
*beayion  72 
beagiim  69 
beam  24 
beard  10 
bece,  beech  <)0 

79 


80 


INDEX.          [References  are  to  pages. 


be%an  72 
behest  55 


benc,  bench  59 

beorcan,  berke  45 

Berlin  69 

beseech  68 

betwix,  betwixt  55 

blegan  72 

biqven  77 

blndan  8,  9 

birce,  birch  46 

bird  46 

*blankion  43 

blencan,  blenchte,  bleynte  43 

bliss,  UiKe  16 

blood  32 

boat  29  note 

boc  19 

bodis,  body  20,  21,  69 

bog  41 

boya  39,  71 

bo^h,  boh  71,  41 

boil  61 

*bokwn  60 

bold  44 

bolt  45 

bonte  25 

book  19,  32 

bosm,  bosom  19,  32 

bough,  boughs  41  ,  51 

bdun  55 

bound  (p.  p.  of  'bind')  9,  35 

bound  (  '  ready  to  go  '  )  55,  59 

bow  (to  incline)  39 

bow,  bows  (  '  arms  '  )  39,  51 


brad  29 

braegen,  brain  22,  37 

bramble  22 

breast  17 

bremel  22 

brebst  17 

brid  46 

bride  35 

bridegroom  55 

bridge  72 

bridgume  55 

broad  29 

brocen  13 


brohle  16 
broken  13 
broKor  32 
*bruyia,  brycg  72 
bryd  3~5 
brydguma  55 
buasfc  59 
biicet,  bucket  22 
buch  (German)  71 
bu^an  39 
build  6 
buinn  55,  59 
biilden  6 
bunden  9,  35 
fturAg  71 
busk  59 
but  42 
byc%an  77 
byldan  6 

cabbache,  cabbage  53 
cabin  31 


References  are  to  pages.]          INDEX. 


81 


cacche,  cacher  40 
cos  38,  65 


cald  7,  65 

calf  44,  62 

called,  callian  65 

cdmb  8 

Cantium  65 

care  62 

cartouche,  cartridge  53 

earn  62 

carve  68 

caseum  65 

-caster,  castra  62 

cattle  31 

caught  40 

cea/62 

ceaft,  ceafol  43,  53 

ceafor  62 

cealc  62 

ceaZ/62 

ceallian  7 

ceap  61 

cear/68 

cearig,  cearu  62 

ceos  67 

*ceasi  65 

ceaster  62 

ceaw  68 

cele  62 

cene  65 


ceorfan  68 
ccor/  60 
ceosan  60,  67 
ceowan  68 


cepaw  61,  65 

cepan  (keep),  cepte  17,  65 

cese  65 

-cester  62 

l-etU  61 

chafer  62 

chaff  62 

chalk  44,  62 

chapel  30-31 

char  woman  53 

chary  62 

Chaucer  10,  17,  18,  25,  29, 
30,  32,  37,  39,  40,  41,  43- 
44,  48,  51,  52,  54,  63,  68, 
74 

chaul,  chavel  53 

chaw  53 

cheap,  cheapen  61 

cheese  65 

chep  61 

chepe,  chepen  61,  65 

cherice,  cherish  52 

chesen  60,  67 

Chester  62 

eheiel,  Chettle  61 

chew  68 

chide  60 

child  7,  15 

childer,  children  8, 15 

chill  62 

chin  60 

choice,  choix  61 

choose  67 

Christendom  14 

Chronicle,  Parker  9 

Church  Plays  48 


82 


INDEX.         [References  are  to  pages. 


churl  60 

cool  31,  64 

chiise  61 

coquina  60,  65 

cldan  60 

coren  67 

ciele  62 

corf  en  68 

ciese  65 

cousin  51 

clld,  cildru  7,  8,  9,  15 

cow  64 

cinn  60 

cowen  68 

els  61 

*crangion  75 

cl&dde  17 

crasis  12 

cZceree  64 

cre/«  23 

cl&nMc  14 

crenge  75 

clamsian,  clansian  23 

cri6664 

cZdiSian  17 

*cnn-jran  74 

claw,  cZaww  42 

crlstendom  14 

clean,  den  27,  64 

Cromwell  27 

cleanly  14 

cw64 

cleanse  23 

cuman  64 

clerk  45 

Cumberbatch  62 

clif,  clifl  64 

ciinrede  54 

cllmban  8,  51 

curfon  68 

clothed  17 

curon  67 

C(1i^^6    /~T 

cursian,  curse  46 

-                yf  O 

cuwan.  68 

cnawleche  53 

cweruxm,  cwencte  43 

cneow  42 

cwice,  CWICM  63,  64 

cmfa  64 

cycen  60,  65 

coat  29  note 

cyn  65 

cocc,  cock  64 

cynrceden  54 

Cockney  5,  37 

*cypan  61 

col  31,  64 

cy^S  16,  65 

cold  7,  65 
comb  8,  51 
combustion  53 
come  64 

compound  words  14 
consonant  groups  6 


deed  24 

ctej,  da^es  23,  37,  71 


dagos  23,  71 
dagenian  23,  71 


References  are  to  pages.]          INDEX. 


83 


darjes  23 
ddh41 
daisy  37 


damne,  dampned  54 

Danelagh  2 

Danish  (includes  Icelandic, 
Norwegian,  Scandinavian) 
1,  2,  7,  10,  13,  14,  17,  28, 
29,  39,  42,  55,  56-57,  59, 
61,  67,  68,  75-76 

daumen  (Germ.)  54 

dawn  23 

daws  23 

day,  days  37,  51 

dead,  dead  18 

dedf,  deaf  18,  41 

deagian  38 

deal  29 

dealed,  dealt  17 

deaft,  death  18 

dedeZI 

deemster  54 

deep  25,  26 

degan  38 

deman  54 

Dempster  54 

dempt  54 

deofol  13,  22 

deap  24,  25 

deor,  derrest  19 

devil  13,  22 

deyen  38 

die  62 

die  ((mori')38 

dike  62 


disc,  dish  58 

distraught  40 

ditch  62 

dossa  74 

dole  29 

domSl 

dormer  (German)  54 

doom  31 

Dorchester  62 

dough  41 

dove  32 

drcedd,  drcedeft  17 

dragan  39 

*drankion  60 

drat  17 

draw  39 

dream' t  54 

dree  38 

drempte  54 

drencan,  drench  34,  60 

dreneium  66 

drebgan  38 

drop,  *dropp  32 

dropa,  drope  32 

droune,  drown  56 

drunen  56 

dry  39 

Dryden  27 

dryge  39 

duce,  duck  19 

dufe  32 

duke  36,  67 

dust,  dust  17 

Dutch  1,  37,  58,  62 

dye  38 


84 


INDEX.          [References  are  to  pages. 


eoc24 

Farquhar  36 

each63 

faux  pas  31 

Eddmund  14,  24 

feallan  23 

edge  38 

feature  66-67 

edd  7 

fee  39 

eard  10 

feel  26 

earoicgo  74 

fehten  24 

Edmund  14,  24 

feld  6,  7,  9,  25 

e#e38 

feohm 

Egippte  77 

feohtan  24 

either  35,  37,  38 

feor  45 

ejie  24 

/er,  /erre  45 

-eZ21 

fersc  58 

elder  8 

field'  6,  7,  25 

Elizabeth,  Queen  27 

/|f  19 

emmet  22 

Jindan  35 

empti,  empty  54 

finger  74 

-en  (p.  p.)  9,  21 

fire  35 

-en  (adj.  )  21 

ytsc,  fish  58 

English,  divisions  of  3 

fist  17 

enough  19,  41 

five  19 

eorSe  10 

/cejci  25,  37 

eowu  42 

flcesc,  flash  18,  58 

errand  15 

flail  37 

er-SelO 

flebgan  38 

escarmouche,  escarn  58 

flesh  18,  58 

-e«21 

flod  19,  32 

eu>e,  ewe  42 

flo^ettan  74 

excuse  52 

flood  19,  32 

eye  38 

fly  38 

fod  19,  32 

face  30,  51 

folk  45 

ftegen,  fain  37 

food  19,  32 

faUcm,  fall  23,  44 

foot  32 

far  45 

for  46 

faran,  fare  (vb.)  30,  47 

Jorloren  28 

References  are  to  pages,]          INDEX. 


85 


fofS  10,  46 

German  1,  2,  44,  50,  54,  55, 

fostor,  foster  17 

59,  64,  68,  70,  71 

fowl  39 

gernan  70 

/ra28 

ges  69,  71 

French  2,  18,  27,  30,  31,  35, 

ges<  75 

36,  40,  45,  51,  52-55,  58, 

gefem  75,  76 

61,  62,  75 

gieZdan  70 

freosan,  fresen  24 

•gidlan  70 

fresh  58 

giernara  70 

fro  28 

gt/e,  gifenra  76 

/roggo  74 

gS/re  76 

-ftl  6 

S^  ^^ 

fugol  39 

give  75 

/yr35 

gted,  glad  69,  71 

fyst  17 

glass,  glaze  52 

glove  32 

y,  &  3>  &  9  69,  70,  76,  77 

gnagan  69 

gabe  (German)  69 

goat  28 

gait,  gata  76 

god,  God  71 

got  28,  69 

god  19 

gate  68,  76 

godhead  29 

gear  70,  75 

gold  7,  33 

gea<70 

good  19,  32,  68 

geatu76 

goold,  Goold  33 

geben  (German)  69 

goose,  gos  31,  51,  69,  70,  71 

geciynd  8,  9,  65 

gosling  14 

geese  71 

yoten  70,  76 

g«/an  75 

Gothic  20,  21 

jeggn  76 

Gott  (German)  69 

geWara  70 

Gould  33 

ge&m  70 

Gower  48 

Genesis-Exodus  54 

grace  30,  51 

genog  19,  41 

gra/an  69 

geoton  70 

grass,  graze  52 

ger  70,  75 

grease  52 

86 


INDEX.          [References  are  to  pages. 


great,  gretter  19 

growan  42 

G.  T.  72  (and  Preface) 

guest  75 

gum  68 

guma  69 

yutm  70 


-had  29 
MVSu  19 
hces  55 


hafoc  43 


*hayis  73 
hailags  21 


hdl%ian  15,  46 
Mil's  15,  21,  46 
hallow,  AaJwe  46 
has  55 
haste  18 
hats  51 
hawk  43 

hay  ('hedge')  73 
Al(pron.)  11,  26 
head  19 
-head  29 
heafod  19 
hedh  19,  40 
health  19 
hear  26 
heath  18 
heaven  13 


hec%e  73 

-hed  29 

hedge  73 

Ae5('hay')69 

he&C hedge')  73 

height 

heiser  (Germ.)  55 

hence  51 

henge  33 

heqfon  13 

her  (adv.)  25 

Aeran,  herde  17,  26 

herre  19 

hey-sugge  74 

faeran  26 

high  40 

hina,  hlne,  hind  ('servant') 

55 

hinder  9 
hinge  33 
his  (pron. )  51 

hlaf,  hlafmcesse,  hlcefdi$e  14,  50 
hleapan  50 
hndgh  71 
hnecca  50,  64 
hnutu  50 
hoarse  55 
Ao/22 

Aoiis,  holy  15,  21,  46 
homely,  homelike  63 
honey,  20,  21 
-hood  29 

hopian,  hope  11,  29,  32 
hord  10 
hors  55 
hound  8 


References  are  to  pages.]         INDEX. 


87 


house  35,  52 

keep,  keepit  17,  65 

hovel  22 

Keltic  57-58,  70 

hrcefn  50 

Kent  65 

hrof  50 

Kentish  4,  11,  23,  73 

-ht  15,  31-32 

kepteVJ 

hund  8 

kettle  61 

Auru'g  20,  21 

key  38,  65 

hus  35- 

kilt  68 

hiisbonde,  husband  14 

kin  65 

husk  59 

kind  8,  65 

hwa  50 

kindred  54 

MS  01 

kit68 

kitchen  60,  65 

I  (pron.  )  63 

kith  16,  65 

-tan  (infin.)  9,  15,  60 

kleffia  17 

ic,  tcft(pron.)  62-63 

knew  42 

Icelandic  (see  Danish) 

knight  64 

ich'UGZ 

knighthood  29 

i-dinde  8 

know  42 

ife  20,  70 

knowledge  53 

-tg  20,  21 

*koni  65 

in  mtddes  55 

*kopian  65 

Irish  27 

is  51 

laddeZZ 

ivy  20,  70 

lady  14 

Icedan,  Icedde  18,  23 

jaw  53 

Ken,  Zoinan  29,  55 

Johnson,  Saml.  37 

Kessa  16 

join  61 

Eewed42 

jowl  43,  53 

lqffdi%  14 

Judas  35 

*layidat  layis,  &c.,  73 

*kaiyi  65 

laid  74 

kalla  7,  65 

Lammas  14 

*keapion  65 

Ian  29 

keen  65 

Lancaster  62 

88 


INDEX.          [References  are  to  pages. 


IdrspeH  14 

lavender  55 

law  39 

ky  74 

lead  (vb.)  18 

lead,  lead  (metal)  18 

leaf,  leaf  19 

leap  50 

lec%an,  kcge,  &c.,  73,  77 

led,  kddc  23 


leggen,  Zeggen  74,  77 
legis,  le^tiS  73 


leisure  52 

Zei-574 

lend  55 

l$ne,  tgnen  29,  55 

Kof  24 

leogan  38 

koht  16 

Zesse  16 

lewd  42 

-li,  -Re  63 

liccian  60 


lic^ean  74 


fictan  60 

lichen,  lick  60 

lie  (vb.  mentiri)  38 

lie  (noun  'falsehood')  72 

Ks<?S,  lieth  38 

ligg-  74 

Kfa  16 

fiA«,  -like  60,  63 


limb  8 

Knew,  linen  19 

lips  51 

Literary  English  4-5 

loaf  50 

loan  29 

facian,  look  60 

London  5,  37 


tore  ('lost')  12,  (see  also  for- 

loren,  verlore) 
love,  lufu  32 
*luyis  72 
-Iy63 


mood,  maced,  modem  11,  12 
made  12 
mage,  mayy  77 
maken,  maked  11,  12 


marry  31 

may  37 

M.  E.  3,  4 

me  (pron.  )  11,  26 

meat  11,  26 

meet  (vb.  )  26 

meme  25 

Mercian  4,  7,  8,  11,  23,  26, 

38,  39,  40 
metan  26 
mite  11,  26 
micsan  58 

Middle  English  3,  4 
Midland  English  3,  4,  56,  62, 

68,  73 
midst  55 


References  are  to  pages.]         INDEX. 


89 


iriilde,  milts  16 

min,  mine  35 

miscan,  mix  58 

Mn.  E.  3,  4 

mona,  nwnafS,  month,  moon 

19,  31 
moral  46 
modor  32 
mouse  51 
mu~S,  mouth  35 

*nceg$er  35 

neck  50,  64 

ng  74 

neither  35 

ncmnan,  nempnen  54 

New  English  3 

nigon,  nine  38 

Northern  English  3,  4,  50, 

56,  62,  68 

Northumbrian  4,  23 
Norwegian,  see  Danish 
nourish  52 
nut  50 

oak,  oath,  oats  28  note 

obey  27 

O.  E.  3,  4 

old  7,  28 

Old  English  3 

on  cer  53 

On  God  Ureison  28 

oncet  55 

ondr&dan  17 

one  28 

ongegn  75,  76 


only  28 

onn%cen,  76 

onst  55 

ooze  29 

Open  Stress-Syllable  11,  29- 

31 

ore  ('mercy')  12,  28 
Ormulum  10,  11-12,  13,  14, 

18,  19,  21,  22,  28,  66,  70, 

75-77 
Orosius  9 
-ot  21 

offer,  other  19,  32 
ough,  ought  41 
owe  39,  41 

papa  28 
papaver  21 
Parker  Chronicle  9 
partridge  53 
paste  18 
Pastoral  Care  9 
Patience  71 
patient  52 
perish  52 
pertriche  53 
philosopher  55 
pic  62 

Piers  Plowman  19 
pitch  62 
pleasure  52 
ploh,  plough  41 
pluccian,  pluck  64 
poison  51 
Pope  27 
pope  28,  29 


90 


INDEX.         [References  are  to  pages. 


papi-S,  poppy  20,  21 

said  47 

prebst,  priest  17 

salvation  52 

principle  55 

*saj^-yion  75 

punch  41 

sang  46 

saucisse,  sausage  53 

qu-,  quh-  (Scotch)  50 

saugh  40 

question  53 

saw  ('saying')  39 

queynte  43 

saw  (pret.)  40 

quick,  quitch-  63,  64 

sdwcm  71 

say  74 

rod  33 

«c  18,  52,  57 

rcecean,  rcehte,  rahte  40 

Scandinavian,  see  Danish 

raisin  26,  27 

seaman  42 

raughte  40 

«ceaZ57 

raven  50 

sceamu  57 

reason  26,  27,  51 

scearp  57 

rehte,  reighte  40 

sceaviian  42 

reson  27 

scene  57 

road  29,  33 

sceort  57 

roof  50 

schlummern  (German)  54 

roten,  rotten  13 

$chola,  school  58 

rough  19,  41 

scip  57 

rounen,  round  (vb.  'whisper'  ) 

scorn  58 

55 

Scotch  8,  17,  38,  50,  57,  62 

ruh,  ruhh  19,  41 

scrincan  57 

runian  55 

scrud  57 

runnel  22 

scyttan  57 

*ruyis  72 

secgean  74 

Kunic  66 

see  (pret.  'saw')  39 

ry%e,  rye  72 

seek  68 

rynd  22 

seggen  74 

seh,  seigh  ('saw')  39 

sage  30 

senge  34,  75 

sac/en  (German)  44 

sebc  19 

sagu  39 

seoVSan  16 

sah  (pret.  '  saw  '  )  40 

-sester  62 

References  are  to  pages.]          INDEX. 


91 


sh  18,  52,  57 

Shakespeare  26,  27 

shall  57 

shame  57 

sharp  57 

sheen  57 

sh$wen,  shew  42 

ship  57,  58 

short  57 

show  42 

shrink  57 

shroud  57 

shut  57 

sick  19 

sicol,  sickle  63 

Sievers  43,  59,  65,  72,  74 

sighs  51 

sights  51 

sin  34 

sin-gan  74 

singe  33,  75 

singer  74 


skin  57 

skipper  58 

skirmish  58 

skirt  57,  58 

skull  57 

sky  57 

skyrta  58 

slcepan,  slepte  17 

slo^h  71 

slumerian,  slumber  54 

so  29 

s5/fe  16 

soghe,  71 

sdhtc  16,  41 


solempne,  solennc  54 

somenour,  sompnourZA 

sommetier  54 

son  (Fr.  'noise')  36 

sona,  sonnest  19 

«w£,  sorwe,  sorrow  46 

|S0ry,  sorry  46 

Bought  41 

sound   (adj.    'healthy';    n. 

'arm  of  sea'  ;  n.  and  vb. 

'noise' ;  vb.  'to  test  depth' ) 

36-37,  55 
sounen  55 
sour  36 
Southern  English  3,  34,  51, 

56,  62,  63,  68,  73 
sow  (vb. )  71 
speche  24,  27 
spr&ie  24 
sprenge  34 
-ss!6 
-st!7 
«<an28 
standard  English  4-5,  8,  10, 

28,  37,  55,  56,  63,  73 
star  45 

stdan,  steal  11,  26,  30 
steopfceder,  stepfather  25 
steorra,  sterre  45 
sticca,  stick  64 
sfif,  stiff  19 
stone  28 
street  24 

Stratford,  Stratford  14,  24 
*ttrakwn6Q 
straught  40 
streccan,  stretch  40,  60 


INDEX.          [References  are  to  pages. 


stress,  accent  6,    11,  29-31, 

terminations  20 

42,  52-53,  67 

Teutonic  1  (and  Preface) 

strgte  24 

ftakion  59 

such  63 

ftankien,  thank  60 

suffixes  14-15 

thatch  59 

swgso,  74 

"Seccan  59 

sumpter  54 

A*s  40 

sund  36 

thence  51 

suner  (Fr.  vb.  )  55 

ftcncan  66 

sur,  '  sour  '  36 

«6&A  40 

t&r,  'sure'  35,  36 

^e<23 

swd  29 

/IA,  thigh  40 

swamp  44 

thimble  54 

awdpan  17 

thirteen  15 

Swedish  1,  7 

thirty  20 

sweord,  swerd  10 

London  60 

swepte  17 

fireotene  15 

sw/c  63 

"Snfo'j;  20 

swognen,  swoon  56 

•Sroto,  throat  32,  33 

syncope  16-17,  43 

fruh,  through  41 

tacan  (vb.  'take')  13 
tdcen  (n.  '  token ' )  12 
tcBcan,  tcehte,  tdhte,  taught  16, 

25,  30,  40,  59 
taken,  ta'en  12 
*tdkion  59 
talk  44 
taste  18 
taught  40 
tea  27 

teach  25,  27,  30,  59 
tear  24 


•Surna,  thumb  54 
ftunor,  thunder  54 
/>urh  41 
•Kymel  54 
fiejan,  tie  38 
-iig  20 
tigofta  39 


tinder  8 
tithe  39 


fegan  38 
{eon,  ten  19 
tere2A 


token  12 
<6«,  tooth  31 
tough  41 
treasure  52 
trone  (Fr.)  28 


References  are  to  pages.]         INDEX. 


93 


tube  36 

weld(yb.)  7 

Tuesday  66 

weldan  7 

twentis,  twenty  20 

weng  34 

two  29 

wepan,  wepte  17 

-ty20 

West  Saxon  4,  7,  23,  26,  38, 

tyndre  8 

40 

whales  50 

uncouth  35 

which  50,  63 

under  9 

while  50 

us  (pron.)  41,  51 

whiles,  whilst  55 

use  52 

who  29,  50 

whole  50 

verlore  28 

wieldan,  wield  7 

wile  50 

tea  29 

wind  (n.  'air')  36 

wjcejen  37 

wing  34 

wees  22,  51 

wisdom  14 

*wayion  72 

wish  18 

wagon,  wain  37 

witch  50 

wold  11 

woe  29 

Wales  50 

wold  11 

warm  23,  24 

wonder  9 

was  22,  51 

wound  (n.  'hurt')  36 

wascan  59 

vn-ctitfSu,  wrath  16 

wdse  29 

wrench  34 

wash  59 
*wasken  59 

wyscan  18 

wasp  44 

-y  20,  21 

waste  18 

yea  69 

water  45 

year  70 

waxan  (vb.  '  wash  '  )  59 

yearn  70 

way  37 

yell  70 

Weald  11 

yield  70 

wearm23,  24 

youth  35 

weecan,  wecchen,  wecken  (Ger- 

man) 64 

zauns  36 

wecg,  wedge  72 

zenne  34 

u)«5  37 

zoons  36 

Alden's  Specimens  of  English  Verse 

By  RAYMOND  M.  ALDEN,  Assistant  Professor  in  Leland 
Stanford  University,  xiv  +  459  pp.  i6mo.  (English 
Readings. )  $1.25. 

This  book  is  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  be- 
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seems  to.  me  an  excellent  book,  much  needed  and  thoroughly  well 
made.  I  venture  to  predict  for  it  large  usefulness. 

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It  seems  to  me  to  be  the  sanest  and  most  practical  book  on  the  subject. 

Lewis:   The  Principles  of  English  Verse 

By  CHARLTON  M.  LEWIS,  Professor  in  Yale  University. 
143  pp.  i2mo.  $1.25  net. 

A  discussion  of  the  chief  types  of  English  verse 
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HENRY    HOLT    AND    COMPANY 

Publishers,  New  York  City 


"£  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000054188     8 


